Proposed one-off payment to keep older workers employed
Written by our Correspondent
A new law will be implemented which requires employers to give workers beyond the retirement age of 62 a one-off payment should there be no job available with the company, announced Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Known as the Employment Assistance Payment (EAP), it is a key feature of the guidelines for re-hiring workers who are medically fit and have performed satisfactorily at work.
The guidelines will form the core of the law to be passed by 2012 for re-employment up to age 65, and later, up to 67.
Mr Gan said:
“With one in five residents aged 65 and older by 2030…the sooner companies put in place the process and systems for re-employment, the better positioned they will be to meet the challenges ahead.”
With an aging population and a declining birth rate, Singapore has increased the retirement age from 62 to 67 eventually.
The Singapore government has constantly exhorted its senior citizens to work for as long as possible.
Unlike other developed countries like Australia and Canada, there are few social welfare benefits in Singapore.
Singaporeans are expected to be self-reliant and not become a burden to the government.
CPF, the country’s pension fund, is widely acknowledged as inadequate to serve one’s retirement needs as the majority of Singaporeans have utilized it to finance their housing loan.
The government has raised the minimal sum and encouraged Singaporeans to sign up for a CPF Life Scheme which gives them a monthly payout for the rest of their lives.
Previously, Singaporeans are allowed to withdraw their CPF in one lump sum by the age of 55.
There are no independent unions in Singapore to fight for the rights of its workers.
The only legal trade union – NTUC, is a quasi-government organization which is always headed by a PAP minister. The incumbent is Minister in Prime Minister’s Office Mr Lim Swee Say.
There is no minimum wage in Singapore. Companies are “advised” by the National Wage Council to set the wages according to the prevailing economic situation of the country which is revised every quarterly.
Foreigners are represented on its 2007/2008 board with representatives from the US (Douglas Miller), Japanese (Shigeru Kobayashi), and German (Alexander Melchers) chambers of commerce.
Singapore’s unique “tripartite” system has ensured cordial industrial relations between employers and employees for many years.
The last registered strike occurred in Singapore in 1986 and it was sanctioned by then deputy prime minister and NTUC Chief Mr Ong Teng Cheong.
Strikes, rallies and protests are illegal in Singapore. Workers have no other legal channel to seek address for labor disputes other than NTUC.
The relentless influx of low cost foreigners have helped depressed the wages of Singapore workers in the last few years leading to a widening income gap.
Singapore’s geriatric leader Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said lately that he is not concerned with the widening income gap as long there are jobs available for Singaporeans.
The elder Lee is the oldest MP in the world at the age of 86. It is not known if he intend to run for the next election due by 2011. His son Lee Hsien Loong is currently the prime minister of Singapore and his daughter-in-law Ho Ching is the CEO of Temasek Holdings, one of Singapore’s two sovereign wealth fund. He chairs the other one – GIC.
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cy on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 7:30 pm
LKY is not the oldest MP but may be soon if he beats methuselah’s record.
Malaysia’s 12th General Election has probably the nation’s oldest ever MP candidate. She is 89-year old kain songket trader and granny-of-seven Maimun “Tok Mun” Yusof
there was Samuel Young (1822-1918), the former MP for East Cavan, who was MP right until the day of his death at the age of 96 years
A P on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 10:05 pm
The govt knows that when retrenched, it is game over for these older workers. In order to look that they care, it now begs employers to give old workers their last consolation prize.
janetnt on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 10:43 pm
Hey TR please do a review on How good or bad is this pay off scheme rather then go thru the broken recorder mode…
Guy_plain on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 10:57 pm
Take a moment to ponder .. proposed to one-off payment action.
If GE is coming, well ain’t it the best time to offer monetary reward, section by section.
It started with LUP in opposition ward (I stand corrected) and now this (again I stand corrected).
I believe there have been a few in between where monetary reward or something to that effect is being utilised to placate.
2-cents worth
qussl3 on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 11:10 pm
The cynic in me smells pork.
ronin on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 11:18 pm
In the final analysis…..this one-off payment will only be a GUIDELINE !!!! Also, I bet my last dollar that such payments would be just a few thousand dollars at most.
ahhui on Tue, 17th Nov 2009 11:51 pm
Its ironic how they are paid millions of dollars each year to come up with solving problems with money..
Congestion in CBD, money
Too many cars, money
Need votes, money
and the list goes on..
Omg, if this are the stuffs our elites of the elite can come up with, I dont really see a future for Singapore.
citizenofSG on Wed, 18th Nov 2009 1:14 am
@janetnt – come on mdm. u can diy and share ur work with us can’t u. People must learn to give and take. In your case u demand via insult. LOL.
Make this a better place for the entire human race.
BS on Wed, 18th Nov 2009 5:23 am
on the very same day i ran into one elderly woman who was cleaning up the building premises, i saw an elderly couple pushing their grandchild on a push-car in a nearby HDB estate.
no prize for guessing who was local and who looked foreigners.
you reap what you VOTE.
fair and square on Wed, 18th Nov 2009 8:23 am
let’s be realistic…3 months to find a job is no joke!
an ageing population needs a more realistic approach to
retirement instead and this calls for more integrity in
a our retirement schemes than just the very raw inadequate
current CPF schemes available.
i am sure our smart overseas trained policy-makers can do
better before things get worse?
we need to look at this in the longer yime frame and take
a realistic approach by learning from the experience of other
ageing nations…workers shouldn’t be working till they almost
drop dead,or is this a new philosophy of living, an integral part of GLOBALISATION?..could some wise folks explain?
it’s always easier to want to carry on “working’if one is paid for talking the walk than walking the talk…it’s hard to accept that a toilet cleaner got to continue cleaning toilets
way after “retirement age”..of course,it would be nice and cushy if one was a CEO or MINISTER?
PMET on Thu, 19th Nov 2009 8:42 am
“A new law will be implemented which requires employers to give workers beyond the retirement age of 62 a one-off payment should there be no job available with the company, announced Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong.
Known as the Employment Assistance Payment (EAP), it is a key feature of the guidelines for re-hiring workers who are medically fit and have performed satisfactorily at work.”
Goodness. Now we are going to see paper trails on our performance reviews and any tiny mistakes are going to get blown out of proportion in order to justify the “need” to get rid of the older worker way before his retirement age!
Another dirty trick that HR and management can pull to ensure that they are not hiring older works as compared to younger, more enthusiastic ones.
Honestly, I cannot see how this is going to benefit the senior aged workers.