Aware chief falls foul of employer DBS

The Business Times - Fri, Apr 17, 2009

Siow Li Sen

(SINGAPORE) The new president of women's advocacy group Aware may have to negotiate some tricky obstacles at her workplace, as her employer DBS Bank Holdings has gone public with its misgivings about her conduct.

DBS said Josie Lau, who heads marketing for credit cards and unsecured loans, had not sought the bank's approval before she was appointed to Aware's exco on March 28.

This breached the staff code of conduct, but the bank nevertheless agreed to let her take up the appointment as a concession.

Later, when she wanted to run for the post of president, the bank made it clear that it could not support her move, given the demands of the post and her own responsibilities. She ignored its advice.

'We are disappointed that Josie knowingly disregarded DBS' staff code of conduct twice,' said a DBS spokesperson.

'Such attitude is not one that DBS, or any other organisation, can condone in a leader. We are now reviewing the matter internally.'

With this blunt assessment, DBS added a corporate twist to what has been seen as a change of guard at Aware.

Incidentally, Ms Lau's department was behind a DBS credit card campaign last November which landed the bank in hot water with the gay community.

In the current case, DBS was at pains to spell out its stand on staff involvement in matters outside the workplace. It said it takes pride in the fact that many DBS employees are involved with various community/ charity/volunteer organisations in their personal capacity.

'These employees had sought and obtained prior approval to do so, in accordance with the bank's staff code of conduct,' it said.

Approval is granted depending on the demands of the external appointment as well as the job responsibilities that the individual holds in the bank, it said.

Ms Lau informed the bank of her appointment as Aware exco member on April 13, more than two weeks after she was appointed on March 28.

'She had not sought prior approval for this appointment and thereby breached the staff code of conduct. Nevertheless, DBS made a concession and agreed to support her involvement as exco member,' said the bank.

This week, when Ms Lau told DBS of her intention to run for president of Aware, the bank said it could not support her, given the demands associated with the top post of a leading advocacy group in Singapore.

'Banks worldwide are facing very challenging times and her role as vice- president in the credit card space today is even more challenging, given the environment we are in,' DBS said.

'Every year, all employees are required to acknowledge that they will abide by the bank's policies.' But Ms Lau knowingly disregarded the staff code of conduct twice, it said.

Ms Lau and a group of new Aware members have been making regular headlines following their coup at last month's annual general meeting when they ousted the old guard. Nine of the 12 seats on the society's executive committee went to the new faces.

Attempts to contact Ms Lau for comments last night were not successful. In her resume she says she is responsible for driving retail usage on DBS credit/ debit cards, through partnerships with retail merchants for offers and privileges for its base of more than one million card members.

Last November, Ms Lau led the marketing team in a DBS credit card campaign which supported the evangelical Christian organisation Focus On The Family (FOTF).

That credit card promotion where DBS said that it would donate money to FOTF, 'a charity dedicated to helping children and families thrive', led to calls to boycott the bank from members of the gay and lesbian community.

FOTF in Singapore is an affiliate of a US-based organisation of the same name founded in 1977 by evangelical Christian James Dobson who campaigns against gay rights.

Jean Chong, a gay activist told BT that she decided to move the majority of her money out of DBS after that incident.

Margaret Thomas, former Aware vice-president said it's not unusual for companies to require staff to get permission before taking on external appointments.

'The Aware president's role is quite time consuming, with many meetings and events to attend, and DBS appears to be concerned that this will affect Josie's work performance,' said Ms Thomas.

'However it is most unusual for a company to issue a press statement along these lines.'

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