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Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on the Retirement and Re-employment Act

Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1802 OF 2019 FOR THE SITTING ON 2 SEPT 2019
QUESTION NO. 3084 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Ms Anthea Ong

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether there are plans to amend the Retirement and Re-employment Act to include those who have been out of the labour force for caregiving reasons but who may wish to rejoin the labour force after their care recipient passes on.

Answer

  1. Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA), it is an offence for employers to dismiss workers on grounds of age before the minimum statutory Retirement Age of 62. Additionally, employers are required to offer re-employment contracts to eligible employees from 62 up to the Re-employment Age of 67. 
  2. The RRA covers persons who rejoin the workforce if they meet the same criteria as those who remained in the workforce. The priority should therefore be to help them return to employment. They are likely to need some training or reskilling. Through Adapt and Grow, they can access a suite of services and programmes to facilitate employment matching and overcome mismatches in skills or wages.