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On 8 April this year, the Government announced that the re-employment age will be raised from 65 to 67 years old with effect from 1 July 2017. In preparation for the implementation, U Live, an initiative of National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), launched a re-employment guidebook, “Understanding Re-employment”, at their roadshow today. With the re-employment guidebook, which is available to all union leaders and unionised companies’ Human Resource (HR) practitioners, U Live wants to help union leaders, employers and workers better understand the revised Tripartite Guidelines on Re-employment of Older Employees and adopt them earlier. Through the roadshow, U Live also hopes to raise awareness on the re-employment rights of mature workers and encourage workers to be evergreen by staying healthy and embarking on lifelong learning.
Since the release of the revised re-employment guidelines, U Live has been stepping up its efforts to reach out to the Labour Movement’s network of 62 NTUC-affiliated unions and associations, to encourage early adoption of the guidelines among unionised companies. Through various programmes and efforts such as WorkPro, U Live has urged and supported the management and HR personnel of various unionised companies to adopt the guidelines earlier so that any potential issues can be detected and resolved in advanced of the implementation.
As of July this year, 1,016 unionised companies surveyed by U Live were re-employing beyond the age of 65, with 183 companies having minimally a written re-employment policy to re-employ up to the age of 67. This is a significant increase from a year ago where the number of unionised companies re-employing beyond the age of 65 was at 585 and the number of them with a written re-employment policy to re-employ up to the age of 67 was at 102.
Commenting on the statistics, Heng Chee How, Deputy Secretary-General of NTUC and champion for mature workers said, “The re-employment ceiling will go up from 65 to 67 from July next year. We are therefore in the stage of working with companies to get ready. Most unionised companies are already taking steps to adjust their re-employment policies to the new reality. To help all employers do this early and do it right, NTUC has produced this handbook. With its information and examples, it will be a useful tool to HR, unions and mature workers alike.”
Madam Sng Boon Huay, a 75-year-old mature worker present at the roadshow today showed her appreciation for the revised re-employment guidelines, “With the revised re-employment guidelines, more mature workers can continue working longer if they want to. I chose to remain in the workforce as I believe that it keeps me active and enables me to remain socially and mentally engaged. When I stay employed, I am also financially independent and do not have to rely on my children.”
Besides pushing for early adoptions of the revised re-employment guidelines, U Live has been working closely with the tripartite partners to ensure that the changes to the Retirement and Re-employment Act will provide sufficient protection to mature workers. Workshops on financial literacy, Central Provident Funds, health and wellness are also frequently organised to help keep mature members fit, healthy and ready for re-employment.
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