Valuing Older Workers

It’s a home-away-from-home feeling for senior workers with the elderly-friendly work environment at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel. “We truly value our older employees and recognise their contributions to the hotel,” said General Manager Steven Chan.

As part of Crowne Plaza’s pre-opening strategy to implement a sustainable re-employment system in the hotel, Crowne Plaza tapped on the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA)’s Capability Development and Training Grant to be an in-house Approved Training Organisation and deliver WSQ (Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications) training to staff.

“Our management priorities are to align employees’ skill sets with industry standards and provide them with the relevant accreditations required to excel in their work,” he said. “We understand that the right training will greatly improve their employability and encourage them to continue being gainfully employed even past their retirement years.”

Elderly-Friendly Initiatives

One eye-catching initiative is the installation of the EziMaid Bed Lifting System in guest rooms since the hotel opened in 2008. Adopted for the safety of senior workers, the steel framed system enables beds to be raised to waist-height (up to 500mm) by the room attendant using a remote control. This makes bed-making and vacuuming possible without bending, resulting in less chance of workplace injury.

While the Re-employment Act may have just taken effect on January 1 this year, Crowne Plaza is an early adopter of the Act, providing re-employment to employees reaching the age of 62 since 2009.

“On top of adopting the Re-employment Act, we do not reduce their salaries by 10 per cent when they reach the age of 60. Their employment terms and conditions are unchanged even upon reaching the age of 62,” said Mr Chan. “To further make the workplace age-friendly, we have embraced WDA recommendations and established good re-employment practices such as providing pre-retirement planning and re-employment consultation for our staff.”

Role-Model Workers

Two role-model elderly workers at Crowne Plaza are 70-year-old Ishak and 68-year-old Agnes, two hardworking security officers employed on yearly contracts. They are involved in light duties such as daily patrol, safety inspections of the hotel and investigations on loss and safety incidents involving our guests and employees,” said Mr Chan.

“The management is aware of and values the experience of our mature employees. Our older workers bring with them a host of experience and are excellent mentors for our junior staff. As such, we strive to provide them with continuous employment even after the retirement age and commit to creating an elderly-friendly environment for them at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport.”

The ADVANTAGE! Scheme aims to help companies to put in place HR systems to facilitate re-employment practices, as well as to enhance the employment prospects of older workers.

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