Background An ageing population is not only a challenge, it also presents an opportunity. Age need not be a barrier to employment. Equipped with the right skills and expertise, older workers are a valuable source of manpower. Employers can benefit from having an age-diverse workforce, where mature workers with the requisite experience and skills are able to contribute productively in their jobs. At the same time, in view of rising life expectancy, workers also need to remain in the workforce longer to ensure their retirement adequacy. The Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers, chaired by Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong, was set up in March 2005 to recommend measures to: Enhance the employability of older workers and help them stay employed longer so as to raise the effective retirement age beyond 62; and Positively shape the perceptions and mindsets of employees and the public towards the employment of older workers. There are four key thrusts to the Tripartite Committee's recommendations: Expand employment opportunities for older workers; Enhance their cost competitiveness; Raise their skills and value and Shape positive perceptions towards older workers.

The Government has taken up the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee and will introduce the Re-employment legislation by 2012. The Retirement Age Act will be renamed as Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA). Meanwhile, employers can refer to the Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees as a guide to re-employing their workers beyond 62. The Guidelines will serve to complement the re-employment law and will published in the Gazette to provide a basis for mediation and adjudication of re-employment disputes.

For more information, visit www.re-employment.sg, a one-stop information centre providing resources to prepare both employers and employees for the introduction of the Re-employment legislation. The above and other relevant guidelines and reports by the Tripartite Committee can be found there. Information on seminars and events, funding schemes, assistance programmes, case studies, manpower statistics and other useful materials provided by the tripartite partners are also available.

Publications

Interim and Final Report of the Tripartite Committee on the Employability of Older Workers

Find out more about the four key thrusts; please refer to the interim report of the Tripartite Committee on the Employability of Older Workers - Interim Report.pdf.
 

To read the Final Report regarding measures to enhance the employability of older workers in an ageing workforce, please click for the

Sectoral Report of the Tripartite Committee on the Employability of Older Workers

The Tripartite Committee formed various workgroups to examine the issue of older workers' employability on a sectoral basis, and to facilitate implementation of the Committee’s recommendations in their respective sectors.

To read the Sectoral Report of the Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers, please click for the Sectoral Report.pdf.

Tripartite Guidelines on the Re-employment of Older Employees

The Tripartite Guidelines released by the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup formed under the Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers identified good re-employment practices that HR practitioners should consider adopting in the Re-employment of older employees before the Re-employment legislation in 2012. Read more here.

Employees’ Guide on Re-employment

Apart for the Tripartite Advisory on the Re-employment of Older Workers, the Tripartite Implementation Workgroup also released an Employees’ Guide on Re-employment. This guide helps to prepare older workers to work longer and prepare for the re-employment when the legislation kicks-in in 2012.
(Coming soon)