New Tripartite Advisory Released to Help Companies Implement Re-Employment Early

2.   Re-employment legislation was announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong in August 2007, as part of a series of measures to tackle the challenges of an aging population. The Government committed to enact the re-employment legislation by January 2012 to enable more people to continue working beyond the current statutory retirement age of 62 - up to 65 in the first instance and, later, up to 67. The re-employment approach offers two important advantages for both companies and workers: flexibility and sustainability. It is important that companies make early preparations to put in place re-employment practices, long before the legislation is enacted, in order to be well-prepared. Thus, in October 2007, the TIWG was set up to focus on implementation issues and help companies to adopt re-employment early.

3.   The TIWG has drafted an Advisory that identifies good practices in areas such as pre-retirement planning and re-employment consultation, job arrangements upon re-employment and re-employment contract durations. It would like to invite feedback from companies implementing the Advisory. TIWG will take into account such feedback in the drafting of a set of Tripartite Guidelines on Re-employment, to be issued in 2009. These guidelines will then serve as the basis for drafting the re-employment legislation.

4.   Chairman of the TIWG and SNEF Council member Mr Alexander Melchers said, "Re-employment is a new concept for many employers. The advisory is meant to assist them, by offering practical suggestions to implement re-employment in their company."

5.   Mr Melchers added, "For re-employment to work, companies need to start reviewing and implementing changes to their HR systems and policies, including performance management and wage structures. Companies should do this as soon as possible, because this is not a process that can be accomplished overnight." He also said the re-employment of older workers was another way to tackle the increasing problem of a lack of skilled labour in Singapore.

6.   NTUC Director of Industrial Relations and TIWG member Ms Cham Hui Fong said, "Both employers and workers need to change their mindsets on employment beyond the age of 62. Employers should regard these long-serving employees as an integral part of their value chain and recognise their contributions to the organisation. They should be willing to accommodate the needs of re-employed workers, for instance by providing flexibility in job arrangements. Meanwhile, workers must be adaptable and be prepared to accept that re-employment may mean doing a different job, with a different pay. Both employers and employees also need to continue to develop skills upgrading programmes to prepare for re-employment."

7.   Companies are urged to adopt the Tripartite Advisory and provide re-employment opportunities to their workers. Employers who require funding assistance to implement re-employment can approach WDA for information on the ADVANTAGE! scheme. Employers interested to learn more about putting in place a re-employment policy in their company, or who wish to provide feedback on the Advisory, can email SNEF at beyond62@snef.org.sg, NTUC at ongst@ntuc.org.sg, or MOM at mom_lrd@mom.gov.sg.