Re-employment More Effective
- Berita Harian (26 January 2011): Re-employment More Effective
- Berita Harian (21 January 2011): Helping older workers
Re-employment More Effective
- Berita Harian, 26 January 2011
The recent editorial (“Helping older workers”, Jan 21) suggested that it might be difficult for older employees to remain working if the retirement age was not raised through legislation. The tripartite partners had carefully considered this before. Simply raising the retirement age may not improve the employment rate of older employees as it will increase rigidity in the labour market. Legislating re-employment is thus the more practical approach as it provides employers and employees the flexibility to make adjustments to employment terms and conditions to meet their respective needs. This encourages employers to retain older employees, and hence improves their employment rate.
2. The editorial also gave the impression that the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA) “seemingly favours employers” because of the flexibility it provides. When it takes effect from January 2012, the Act only allows employers to use two criteria - satisfactory job performance and medical fitness - in assessing an employee’s eligibility. In cases of dispute, the onus is on the employer to show proof that an employee is ineligible for re-employment. Employers and employees who encounter such re-employment disputes may also approach the Ministry of Manpower for advice or assistance.
3. The editorial asked if there would be additional Acts or amendments to strengthen the RRA. We wish to highlight that the RRA itself comprises new provisions and other technical amendments to the previous Retirement Age Act to facilitate re-employment. The recently updated Tripartite Guidelines on Re-employment of Older Employees further complements the RRA by outlining how re-employment should be implemented. The tripartite guidelines will also be gazetted to provide a basis for mediation and adjudication.
4. The tripartite partners remain committed towards working together with employers and employees in preparing them for the re-employment legislation.
Helping older workers
- Berita Harian, 21 January 2011
The effects of an ageing population have motivated the Government to provide various measures for long-term needs. This was revealed in the Retirement and Re-employment Act passed last week. Employees and unions must certainly hope that employers can embrace this new Act for long-term objectives; especially since the Government have tried reducing its dependency on foreign workers, including Permanent Residents. Companies usually review older workers based on their competitiveness in terms of cost and overall staff contributions.
The trend of raising retirement age is occurring in many advanced countries. Singapore is not exempt based on the employment rate for workers aged 55 to 64 years, which rose from 46.8 per cent in 2005 to 59 per cent last year. The Workfare scheme might be among the reasons why companies need mature workers, in order to balance out the need for foreign workers whose work permit costs continue to be increased. However, if the retirement age is not raised through legislation, it might be difficult for mature workers to remain in service.
This Act is actually flexible even though it seemingly favours employers. Economic conditions need to be taken into account when hiring elderly workers who need to be healthy and can achieve good work results. However, in times of economic downturn or declining productivity, mature workers are usually more “easily” retrenched. The more frequent turbulence in the world economy shows that the future of elderly workers cannot be ensured yet despite the existence of this Act.
Would there be additional Acts or amendments to strengthen this Act? This might be needed if the evaluation of older workers is not done systematically such that they are easily discarded upon reaching the time for retirement. If the cost of employing a younger worker is “cheaper”, employers may think twice about extending the service of older workers. Nonetheless, this Act offers an opportunity and help for older workers to work as long as they are healthy and productive. At the same time, the labour movement, and maybe the Ministry of Manpower as well, could think about other aspects of looking after the welfare of older workers so that they have an avenue for feedback or a channel for securing their livelihood.