By Shukry Rashid
Much has been done by the NTUC U Live @ Work department to prepare workers and companies for the amendments to the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA). Its director James Tan said that the amendments are what U Live @ Work has been pushing for “for quite some time.”
In 2016, U Live @ Work conducted two roadshows to reach out to workers and the general public.
Mr Tan added: “We released an updated Re-employment Guide based on the latest Tripartite Guidelines to equip unions with the necessary knowledge to prepare the companies they work with for the new changes to the RRA.”
The department also worked with unions and companies to educate workers through re-employment preparedness workshops and briefings.
Mr Tan said many of the unions and companies are progressive and have extended the re-employment age beyond 65, even before the amended legislation.
“We hope that the process of reviewing this age ceiling further would continue in view of the rapidly ageing workforce so that many more cohorts of workers are afforded the protection of being able to have the choice of continued employment,” he added.
WorkPro
The WorkPro scheme remains an important tool in improving the lives of mature workers, said Mr Tan. The current WorkPro scheme by Workforce Singapore, and administered by U Live @ Work, was enhanced on 1 July 2016 to further encourage employers to implement age-friendly workplaces through job redesign.
Moving Forward
He added: “For employers to be able to tap on the values and experiences of the ageing workforce, they will have to create an ageless workplace. Employees, on the other hand, must actively adapt and learn new skills or upgrade existing ones, and keep themselves healthy, so that they have the choice to continue to be employable.”
Reactions from LM’s Extended Network
Supply Chain Asia Founder/President Paul Lim
“The raising of the retirement age will be good for those who are employed and want to continue contributing. By making this legal, it would also prevent companies from arbitrarily releasing staff after they reach a certain age. Employees need to be protected, and it is good that our Government has legalised issues such as this to prevent abuse.”
Busads Director Alvin Yapp
“Even though we are moving towards an ageing population, mature workers now are generally more fit compared to 20 or 30 years ago. It is good that we are always in touch with the workforce and always reviewing what is relevant for the workforce as well as businesses, in particular SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises). Because the backbone of our economy – the 70 per cent – are SMEs, our success depends on them. In cases where the HR is good, they would naturally want to continue employing their mature workers or be worried if they cannot re-employ them after contributing so much to the company. So the amendments are not a big concern for them.”
Corlison Singapore Managing Director Andy Ong
“We don’t believe many companies, including ours, practice this [wage cuts at age 60]. Rather, we believe what a lot of employees reaching 60 years and above would want is for companies to introduce flexible and shorter working hours, earning the same wage, so they can spend more time with their families. We believe it is typical nowadays, especially for employees aged 60 and above with children, to become grandparents at this time … Most couples seek support from their parents to help look after young children while they continue their careers.”
Singapore School Transport Association Executive Secretary Jeremy Ng
“Raising the re-employment age from 65 to 67 is a good idea, and we do employ a worker around this age. But this is not an issue because we are planning to continue his employment as long as he can perform and function in his work. For the option for employees to be re-employed by another employer, this is good, but it must be a good match. The employee must be willing to adapt to a new environment and the new employer must facilitate this. I feel this is vital as both employee and employer must have a correct mindset for this to work.”
Source: NTUC This Week
