Work life balance

The civil service has appointed a senior officer in each ministry to be responsible for promoting work life balance. I welcome this move.

Many initiatives have been implemented in the work place in past years. They have achieved limited impact.

I like to suggest the following:

* allow employees to work on a part time basis, to be paid proportionately
* allow employees to work from home, based on the work that has been produced
* allow employees to work closer to their homes

These initiatives require the civil service to be more flexible in arranging their work, and be focused on the work done, rather than the time spent in the workplace.

Being a large organisation, the ministries have the opportunity to deploy their workforce in a more flexible manner. We require a change of mindset and willingness to be bold.