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Success Stories
Dow Chemical
 About The Dow Chemical Company
With 46,000 employees worldwide, Dow is a diversified chemical company delivering a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160 countries. The Singapore branch has two offices, a business centre at the Heeren on Orchard Road and the Dow Singapore Development Center in Tuas. It has 153 full-time employees including 7 expatriates and 12 contract staff.
From employee surveys, the company has ascertained that 81 percent of employees are satisfied with the support they receive from their leaders and 80 percent are satisfied with their work environment.
Dow Singapore was awarded the Work-Life Achiever Award 2008.
| Flexible Work Arrangements |
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Flexi Hours and Part Time
Flexible Hours. Employees decide on the time they start and end work each day within limits set by the management. Formal application and approval from supervisors are required. Employees can also exercise day-to-day informal flexibility (irregular flexi-time) where schedules permit and which are communicated to the department.
Part Time. Part-time staff work fewer hours and their pay is commensurate with their hours. Dow currently has three employees on part-time schedule. Guidelines on flexible work arrangements are provided on Dow’s internal Flexibility@Dow website to assist supervisors and employees in planning flexible work schedules. |
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| Leave Benefits - Leave Management System |
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Each employee manages his or her own leave records, submitting a summary to Human Resources only at the end of the year. Above the statutory childcare leave requirement, Dow allows its employees to use 3 days of the allocated 6 days of childcare leave per year for family care leave. This benefit is also extended to non-Singaporean employees and contract employees. Meant for use in the event of family illness, employees can apply to use this leave benefit to nurse the family member, which includes grandparents and siblings.
Dow provides 80 work days of maternity leave and 30 days of adoption leave for all female employees including non-Singaporean employees. This is above the statutory requirements of maternity leave for employees with a non-Singaporean child and adoption leave. In addition, the employee is given a lump sum maternity or adoption benefit. |
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Housing Loan Interest Subsidy. The objective of this subsidy is to financially assist local employees to purchase a property as their primary residence. Dow funds a certain percentage of the housing loan interest for a maximum of 20 years. This programme is open to employees who have completed at least one year of service as well as local employees on overseas assignments. The subsidy is paid directly into the employees’ monthly payroll. About 40% of the staff utilise this programme and Dow pays a total of $200,000 in subsidies per year. This benefit is popular with staff, especially since local property prices are among the highest in the region.
Flexible Benefits. The programme introduced in 2008 brings revised and improved benefits to employees. Medical fee reimbursement is now extended to parents and parents-in-law and employees can also use their flexi benefits for other wellness claims, including purchase of fitness equipment.
Medical Benefits. Hospitalisation and surgical insurance and group major medical insurance coverage are made available to immediate family members of all employees. At the request of employees, Dow’s medical coverage plan now reimburses consultation with registered Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners.
Activities. One activity is organised almost every month. This includes Family Day, Movie Night, Employee Appreciation Lunch and health programmes.
Meeting-free days. Work groups and departments establish blocks of time when no meetings are scheduled. |
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Employee Quote
“The Housing Loan Interest Subsidy is easy to apply and obviously helps employees bear some interest burden when purchasing a property.”
A Dow Treasury System Specialist
To find out more about Dow Chemical, please visit: http://www.dow.com
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