PM lauds CIMB for introducing one day a week work-from-home policy for mothers

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak wants more organisations to emulate CIMB Group Holdings Berhad by empowering women in their workforce and letting them hold key positions in the company.
The Prime Minister said this when announcing CIMB's new work-from-home policy for one day per week for mothers with children under five years old, in conjunction with International Women's Day 2018.
"I believe for a nation to prosper, there must be maximum women participation at every level. Which is why this year is women empowerment's year.
"So today I am making this announcement on behalf of CIMB. I hope other organisations will follow suit.
"I believe we should celebrate women not just by saying it, but by really empowering them and ensuring they are in key position in every facet of the society," he said, here, yesterday.
The policy, which is believed to be the first in the country, is set to benefit some 3,300 of the total 10,000 female staff in CIMB Malaysia. The company currently has 17,000 total employees.
It will be implemented in Malaysia first, and will be rolled out progressively to CIMB's other markets later.
Also present for the special announcement were CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz, and group chief people officer Datuk Hamidah Naziadin.
Other than the newly announced policy, CIMB also allows maternity leaves of up to one year, a one month paternity leave for first time fathers, and a Flex4Parents policy allowing employees to choose a reduced workweek or options for flexible hours.
This is in addition to their RM200 monthly financial assistance to single parents for each school-going child under 18 years old, and a further RM50 water bill and RM100 Touch 'n Go credit to staff earning not more than RM2,000.
Meanwhile, Najib revealed that at the moment, the government has achieved a 34% women quota in decision-making positions in the civil service, surpassing its 30% target.
In a press conference, Tengku Zafrul said CIMB now has 20% women board members, and aims to achieve a 30% figure by 2030.
Meanwhile, CIMB also announced a three-year partnership with the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (MGF) in a bid to nurture young talents in the sports through the CIMB-MGF Gymnastics Development Programme.
Earlier, Najib said Malaysia will continue the search for flight MH370 which vanished four years ago on March 8, 2014, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
"Four years have passed since the tragic disappearance of MH370, but the passengers and crew who were on the plane that fateful day remain in our prayers and in our hearts.
"Until then, we are committed to honouring them by pushing the global aviation community to take many necessary measures to make our skies safer, ensuring that such a tragedy never happens again," said Najib in a Facebook post yesterday.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777-200ER, disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, about 40 minutes after it took off, with 239 passengers and crew on board.
Australia, Malaysia and China suspended a joint two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January last year, no sign of the plane was found in the 120,000 sq km search area in the southern Indian Ocean.
Only three confirmed fragments of MH370 had been found on the western Indian Ocean shores.