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 Madam Saadiah Awek, 48, had always missed out on the chances of a promotion on her job. As a Management Assistant Officer at the National University of Singapore, she was not able to climb up to a higher grade position even with good performance only because she was employed on a term contract. But this scenario has changed with the ground work done by Education Services Union.
ESU has worked at negotiating with NUS for an agreement to convert contract staff on term contract with good performance to open contract. This would translate into better career paths for more than 300 employees.
The negotiations that began in 2007 bore fruit as when the ESU and NUS signed a Memorandum of Agreement on 6 November 2008.
The staff are employed in non-academic clerical positions such as laboratory assistants, administrative assistants and technicians.
Madam Saadiah is one of them. Employed as a contract staff for six years, she would get very anxious whenever her two-year employment contract was about to end.
"Now, we have a sense of job security. Many of us also see this as a morale booster. I am also more motivated now to attend courses to help my advancement," said Madam Saadiah.
Employees will be eligible for conversion when their contract appointment is fully funded by NUS and that their performance is satisfactory in 2007 and 2008. They must also not be re-employed beyond the legislated retirement age of 62.
Strong labour-management relations between ESU and NUS have made ways for these benefits for the employees.
"The signing of this Memorandum of Agreement marks another significant milestone in our long-standing partnership with ESU. We believe that this is an effective strategy to recruit and retain good employees and further enhance NUS’s positioning as an employer of choice. This is a win-win-win for our staff, NUS and ESU,” said Mr Daniel Cho, Vice-President (Human Resources) of NUS."
"This agreement will serve as a good retention policy for NUS. The job security with this conversion will keep our good staff with the company. They will also be encouraged with opportunities for career development. ESU is committed to continue to assist our No Collar members in achieving job security and career enhancements," said ESU President Michael Tan.
 This placement exercise has helped NUS in achieving its objective of retaining good staff. It is a collective effort of ESU in embracing No-Collar workers as it reaches out to not only the low-wage contract workers, but also those in the higher income brackets."
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More Than Conversion
This conversion exercise is the third milestone for NUS’s employees since its corporatisation in 2006.
In April 2007, NUS adopted a new medical benefits framework consisting of an insurance-based Medical Benefits Plan and a HealthChoice Plan. Employees enjoy a range of benefits such as extended coverage for their dependants and higher limits for private doctor consultation with the Medical Benefits Plan. This plan was complemented by the HealthChoice Plan that extends flexible choices for staff on health-related items.
In September 2007, NUS moved to a flexible wage structure that rewarded employees based on their performance.
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