On November 2, the Singapore government passed a bill to amend the Retirement and Re-employment Act, raising the retirement and re-employment ages to 65 and 70, respectively. The move will allow older people to work for more years, but does not force them to do so. It is entirely up to the workers themselves how long they wish to work before retiring.
This amendment comes after a recommendation by the Tripartite Workgroup on Older Workers in 2019, for the retirement and re-employment ages to be increased by three years, by 2030.
As announced earlier, the statutory retirement age and re-employment age will be raised to 63 from 62 and from 67 to 68, respectively, on Jul 1, 2022. The public sector has already implemented it on Jul 1. Like in China, there will be a gradual increment in these ages, in phases.
The statutory retirement age is, however, required to protect against employers terminating aged employees. Employers will have to offer to re-hire workers as old as 68 in the same establishment.
Employers who wish to allow their employees to work as long as they wish will be welcome to do so.
The average effective retirement age has gone up faster in Singapore than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average.
In ten years time, it is predicted that one in five citizens of Singapore will be above 65, thanks to the low fertility rates and increasing life expectancy.
