EXTENSION OF LEGAL RETIREMENT AGE

EXTENSION OF LEGAL RETIREMENT AGE

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(Effect on older workers): **

59.

Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how has the extension of the legal retirement age affected older workers in the last few years; and (b) whether there has been any company or employer who has violated the Retirement Age Act.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: The legislation of the minimum retirement age at 60 in 1993 and the extension in 1999 to 62 have contributed to an increase in the employment rate of older workers in Singapore. The employment rate of older workers 55-59 years rose from 46.2% in 1993 to 51.8% in 1999, and further to 60.6% in 2006, while that for the group 60-64 years improved from 33.2% in 1999 to 41.9% in 2006.

MOM has set up a Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers to forge a tripartite consensus on ways to enhance the employability of older workers. The Committee has released its interim report with a range of recommendations to raise the effective retirement age of older workers, and will issue its final report later this year.

Compliance with the Retirement Age Act has been good. Since its implementation, there have been only 36 cases reported to MOM, and they have been isolated occurrences. In all these cases, the employers have rectified their employment practices upon intervention by MOM. Effective tripartite promotion and cooperation have ensured that MOM has not found it necessary to charge any employer for violation of the Retirement Age Act.