MORE employers are establishing better worklife balance in the office by adopting family friendly policies, a report by the Manpower Ministry showed.

The report released on Monday said that more employers are adopting flexible working hours, granting more leave benefits such as maternity and paternity leave.

Close to one in ten of all employers adopted flexible working arrangements, such as working from home, part-time work and working in shifts.

In the private sector, 7.1 per cent of firms had flexible work schedules this year, up from 5.4 per cent two years ago.

Similarly, employers were also going beyond what is required of them when it comes to granting leave.

In Singapore, employers are only required by law to provide annual, sick and childcare leave.

But the report showed that more than eight in ten employers granted compassionate leave this year while seven in ten gave wedding leave.

Almost half of employers also gave fathers time-off to be with their newborn.

The report, which surveyed 2,940 establishments employing some 840,000 workers, also showed that more people were taking sick leave.

Last year, 55.8 per cent of workers took sick leave, up from 51.2 per cent in 2005.