published DECEMBER 2023

Equitable Benefits for All

Contributed by Davian Aw

The freedoms to be our authentic selves at work, to become the best version of ourselves, to fade away from expectations, to fail, and yet be allowed to get up and try again. These four freedoms enable employees to flourish at work, according to Manisha Mehta, Regional Industry Lead at Mercer, citing the Harvard Business Review when opening Q Chamber’s final event of 2023.

Closing the Gaps in Employee Care

Speakers focused on inclusive and equitable employee benefits. Manisha talked about the importance of embedding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) principles into benefits programmes to check for gaps in care.

Diverse communities have different needs that present opportunities for employers, such as providing spousal insurance coverage for same-sex couples whose marriages are not legally recognised in Singapore. Such gestures do not cost much due to low utilisation rates but go a long way in helping employees feel accepted.

Disabilities and financial difficulties may make it hard for some employees to physically access healthcare. They would benefit from remote care options or transportation cover. Stigma can prevent employees from making claims for mental health support, HIV medication or injuries from domestic violence. This is where it becomes critical to create a culture of openness that can put such individuals at ease, ensuring that they feel safe and cared for at work.

Manisha emphasised the importance of paying attention to local nuances and cultural or political sensitivities when developing global minimum standards for employee benefits programmes. Something that works well in the US may be disastrous if implemented wholesale in other countries. Companies thus needed to figure out what made sense for their context and was aligned with their organisational culture, while going beyond the bare minimum when taking care of different groups.

“The emphasis must be on providing authentic and inclusive benefits strategies that are consistent, regardless of where you are located,” she said.

Following her presentation was a panel discussion moderated by Q Chamber co-founder Kathy Teo, featuring WiWi Goh, Ching Chia, Tan Hong Wui and Theresa Goh.

Google’s Market HR Lead WiWi said that Google’s philosophy was to enable each employee to bring their most authentic self to work every day. This principle undergirds their HR and benefits policies, and comes into play on the first day of work, when new employees can register their dependants for medical insurance without providing legal documentation of their relationships.

The Calling of Family

Hong Wui and Ching shared their personal stories and struggles around having children with their same-sex partners. Hong Wui’s fight to adopt his biological son – born through surrogacy in the US – had been a landmark case in Singapore. It took 4.5 years of assessments and countless visa runs before he and his husband were approved for the adoption. They had received glowing reports from the assessments but were initially rejected on the basis that Singapore did not support the deliberate creation of same-sex families. Eventually, judges concluded that their child’s welfare was paramount and that he would benefit from being legally adopted and able to live in Singapore with his father. Yet this led to more restrictive policies that would make it harder for future parents to go through the same route.

“I want queer people to be able to re-envision their lives,” Ching said when asked why it was important for her and her wife, Cally, to embark on their parenting journey. Having a biological family had always been important for her and she wanted to show that it was possible for queer people too.

“I did it because it gives me a sense of purpose,” Hong Wui said. Having children was not about wanting to push boundaries or become an activist; he did not think it was fair to use his kids that way. Starting a family of their own was something meaningful and fulfilling for him and his husband, just as it is for straight couples. They are now three years into the process of adopting their daughter, who is temporarily covered by a dependent’s pass. He spoke about other same-sex parents who were unable to renew their kids’ dependents’ passes during the height of the pandemic and had to risk their lives travelling out every few months on visa runs.

Theresa, a Paralympic medallist and multiple world record holder, talked about the different ways her visible disability and less visible queerness were perceived. She reflected, “I’ve often felt that I’m more acceptable in the government spaces with my disability, with my being a sportsperson… but when it comes to being queer, it still feels a bit weird with the ministers that I know.”

Kathy asked the panellists about the financial impact of not being able to access benefits at work and how that affected their ability to contribute to the workplace.

Hong Wui shared that the greatest financial difficulty had been paying for surrogacy out of their savings. Beyond this, they shouldered significant legal and insurance costs, and the costs of travelling to and from Singapore and the US, and staying there for over a month while waiting for their child’s birth certificate to be issued. His husband did not receive any spousal benefits at his workplace, as his employer did not recognise their marriage. Their son attends an international school but it was a choice they made to shield him from harassment at local schools. He had heard of how LGBTIQ+ students or children of same-sex parents were allegedly bullied not just by schoolmates but teachers.

These were all financial sacrifices they agreed to make for the sake of their children, some of which straight couples did not take on when starting a family.

WiWi talked about how Google helps their LGBTQ employees to alleviate some of these obstacles. “Equity means access for all.” At Google, family benefits such as childcare leave were equally accessible to all: no one needed to produce a valid marriage certificate to have time off to take care of their partner or children. Google also provides full coverage for transgender healthcare such as hormone replacement therapy and surgeries.

However, WiWi acknowledged that this was not possible for smaller companies that do not have deep pockets. Yet such companies can find other ways to show their employees they care – if they cannot afford to cover transgender healthcare, for instance, they could support trans employees by helping them access transition and other resources. WiWi encouraged companies to think about what they were able to do to move the needle towards progress and inclusion.

Speaking about the repeal of s377A (of the Singapore Penal Code), Kathy said that decriminalisation was only the first step. “Meanwhile, companies can actually step up to make workplaces more inclusive for LGBTQ folks to thrive.”

Final Takeaways

The panellists were each asked to share one final takeaway.

WiWi: “My hope is for everyone in this room is to go back to their workplaces to find one action they will take to improve inclusivity, whether it’s improving on the benefits you have or signalling how welcoming you are.”

Ching: “Constantly revise HR policies because things are always moving, things are changing.”

Hong Wui: “If you’re part of HR, I hope you’ll realise that there are employees who have same-sex partners and kids, and think about them too and include them.”

Theresa: “If you’re catering for a group of people, make sure that they’re involved in the conversations.”

Responding to a question on how young employees can help, WiWi acknowledged the difficulties of advocating for change when one was new to an organisation or in a low-ranking position. She encouraged finding allies in prominent positions. “Executive sponsorship helps accelerate a lot of things.” If your employee benefits seemed unfair, speak up, push, ask why. Some companies may say they do not provide benefits to same-sex couples because it was illegal but that is not true. She added that everyone has a role to play in education.

This article is written by Davian Aw based on the Q Chamber event on “Equitable Benefits for All” on the 14 December 2023, kindly sponsored by Google.

Davian Aw is a writer, researcher and fact-checker within the LGBTQ advocacy space in Singapore who believes in building bridges through understanding and education. He was a contributor to the shadow reports in Singapore's 2021 Universal Periodic Review, is a co-founder of TransgenderSG, serves on the worship team at Free Community Church, and has spoken on two interfaith panels on faith and sexuality. In 2018, he published the book Whatever Commandment There May Be, calling for LGBTQ affirmation in the Christian church in Singapore.