By Goh Chin Lian

SMALL and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose employees do not belong to unions will get help accessing government programmes designed to help companies weather the economic downturn.

These SMEs are a new priority for teams set up four months ago to advise companies on how best to tap initiatives such as the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) and Jobs Credit scheme.

The teams - called Tripartite Upturn Strategy Teams - comprise officials from the Manpower Ministry, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

Six teams were set up initially. But the number has doubled to 12 to better help SMEs with few dealings with the NTUC, as their workers are not unionised. The teams know of 29,000 such firms, mostly SMEs with 11 to 200 workers each.

Manpower Ministry director for tripartite programmes Ng Chun Pin said yesterday that such SMEs were unfamiliar with measures such as Spur, which covers worker training; and Jobs Credit, which subsidises employers' wage bills for local workers.

Unionised firms, however, have regular dealings with the labour movement. Unionists are also apt to promote and explain the benefits of various measures, which cover manpower and wages.

Another reason for SMEs' unfamiliarity is that many do not have a human resources department to keep track of measures.

Mr Ng was updating reporters on the work of the tripartite teams during visits to garment distributor Three Rifles Holdings and food and beverage giant Nestle.

The teams aim to plug information gaps which still exist despite media campaigns, industry briefings and direct mailing of information to bosses.

Other key concerns of non-unionised SMEs which the teams aim to address include problems with giving workers time off for training and implementing changes such as wage restructuring.

The teams have already contacted 300 unionised and non-unionised companies about their needs, and are targeting another 340 firms in the coming months.

The concerns SMEs have were highlighted when Mr Ng's team visited Three Rifles Holdings in Tai Seng Drive, which also distributes health and beauty products.

The company, which has 41 employees, could not release retail staff for training on working days. It persuaded them to go for courses on their days off.

But workers were compensated for time they spent on training, and received an additional $50 to $100 on completion of the course, said business development manager Kristin Chong.

The company also received advice yesterday on ways to manage costs. It is now studying plans for a flexible wage system that will reward staff based on performance instead of seniority.

The need for customised solutions for SMEs also surfaced during the team's visit to Nestle, which has 456 workers.

The company at the Changi Business Park has sought Spur funding to train workers to reduce wastage in the production process - a move factory manager Richard Hui said would boost productivity.

As for whether teams would also advise firms about how to improve productivity, SNEF executive director Koh Juan Kiat said they would get feedback on the issue, but the focus remains on helping companies with recession-fighting measures.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.