New user? Register as member

The Retirement and Re-Employment Act and Its Practical Applications

Singapore is preparing for a rapidly ageing population. By 2030, the number of seniors aged 65 years and above will almost double to over 900,000. A decreasing fertility rate exacerbates this issue. Hence, with effect from 1 July 2023, the retirement and re-employment age will be increased to 63 and 68 years old respectively. Under the statutory framework for retirement and re-employment ages, employers cannot terminate their employees on grounds of age before the statutory retirement age. Workers have the assurance of continued employment up till the statutory re-employment age if they are able and wish to do so. However, some further questions arise in our tight labour market:

• Are employers receptive to employing seniors who are above 55 years and above and retaining employees who are age above 63?
• Must employers offer the same terms and condition of service after the employee retired at 63?
• Can retired employees be hired on a part-time basis?
• Can employers transfer the employees to another company?
• Can employer pay Employment Assistant Payment if they do not want to offer re-employment?

Given the tight labour supply, HR practitioners may need to look at measures to mitigate the impact of the incoming influx of retirees and consider offering re-employment to existing employees who reach 63 years of age.

However, many HR practitioners have encountered difficulties in re-drafting their Retirement and Re-employment policies and procedures to accommodate the upcoming extension of the re-employment age to 68 years of age.

Re-employment contracts also pose a challenge. Costs may be raised due to higher medical insurance, employment assistance payments, etc., but it may be mitigated by lower CPF contributions and grants from special employment credit. There may also be intangible costs and benefits to re-employment. Hence, HR practitioners must weigh all relevant costs and benefits in their hiring and retention decisions.

Ultimately, the key question is this: How should HR practitioners strategise and deal with the Retirement and Re-employment Act in the prevailing market conditions?

Objective

1. Introduction/Background on the new Retirement ad Re-employment Act (RRA)
2. An important definition of RRA
3. Coverage of employees under RRA
4. Termination before Retirement
5. Criteria for Re-employment, Health and Work Performance
6. Readjustment at the age of 60
7. Re-employment upon retirement
8. Exemptions on re-employment
9. Power to issue tripartite guidelines
10. Salient points on tripartite guidelines
11. Are HR Policies part of an employment contract?
12. Considerations to take when formulating the re-employment policies.
13. Re-employment policies are the same for unionised and non-unionised companies?

Outline

A competent HR practitioner must have the skills and knowledge in the following:

1. Background and Purpose of Retirement and Re-employment Act

• Tripartite guidelines on Re-employment
• Objective of re-employment legislation
• Retirement Age Act versus Retirement and Re-employment Act

2. Category of employees covered under RRA

• Locals, SPR, Foreigners.
• RRA (Exemption Notification)

3. Eligibility criteria for Re-employment

• Definition of poor performance.
• Definition of medically fit.
• Employee’s fault.

4. Re-employment practices

• Identifying eligible employees
• Re-employment planning and consultation
• Job arrangement for re-employment

5. Re-employment contract/policies

• Difference between policies and terms and conditions of employment.
• The offer of re-employment.
• Duration of re-employment.
• Adjustment to wages, medical and other benefits.
• Variation of the employment contract.
• Drafting re-employment contract.
• Drafting re-employment policies and procedures.
• Drafting a retirement letter.

6. Dismissal of employees before retirement

• Dismissal with notice/without notice
• Grounds for dismissal

7. Employment Assistant Programme

• Reference points for EAP
• Definition of gross salary
• Lacuna in EAP

Who should attend

Human Resource Practitioners.

Methodology

Lecture and case study.

Profile of Arthur Khong

Mr. Arthur Khong is the esteemed founder of HR Law Academy, a pioneering institution in Singapore specializing in employment laws and industrial relations. Departing from his role at Keppel Energy in June 2013, Arthur embarked on a mission to provide comprehensive training and consultancy services in the landscape of Singapore's employment laws and industrial practices.


Work Experience

Arthur first embarked on his career in human resource management with Western Digital in 1993. To-date, he has held several senior Human Resource positions including:

• Legal Counsel - Chugoku Marine Paints (S) Pte Ltd
• General Manager, Human Resources – Keppel Energy Pte Ltd
• Group Regional Vice President – Yeo Hiap Seng Ltd
• Director of Human Resource – Far East Organization, Hotel Group
• Director of Human Resource – Goodwood Park Hotel

In his 22 years’ career span in human resource management, Arthur has also held regional human resource responsibilities for overseas subsidiaries in Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Brazil and USA. He is also experienced in industrial relations management as all the companies that he has worked for are unionised companies, some even with multiple unions.

Prior to embarking on his human resource management career, Arthur was with the Singapore Police Force as a Senior Police Officer.

University Lecturer

Arthur is currently an Adjunct Faculty with the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). He started his lecture stint at SUSS in 2009. He lectures on the following modules at SUSS:-

• Employment Laws and Legal Issues
• Employment and Industrial Relations
• Human Resource Management

In addition, Arthur is also an adjunct lecturer for SUSS where he lectures in contract law (Diploma in Management) and staffing and employee development (Graduate Diploma in HR Mgmt).

Workshop Leader

Arthur is also an active freelance workshop leader, having conducted numerous workshops in employment laws and industrial relations since 2007.

Author

Arthur is the author of :

1. The Human Resource Practitioners’ Guide to Employment Laws, the 4th edition (LexisNexis)
2. The Human Resource Practitioners’ Guide to Industrial Relations, the 1st edition (LexisNexis)
3. The Human Resource Practitioners’ Guide to Employment Contracts and HR policies and procedures, the 1st edition (HR Law Academy)

These guidebooks seek to outline the employment laws and industrial relations in Singapore in simple language to give HR Practitioners a better understanding of the rights and obligations of both the employer and the employee.

Educational Qualifications:

Arthur possesses the following educational qualifications:

• Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from University of Manitoba
• Bachelor of Laws (Honors) from University of London
• Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from Singapore Institute of Management
• Diploma in Training and Development from Singapore Institute of Management
• Master of Management (HR Management) from Macquarie University
• Graduate Certificate in International Arbitration from National University of Singapore
• Advance Certificate in Training Assessment from Workforce Development Agency

Current Professional Affiliations

• Non-Practitioner Member of the Law Society of Singapore
• Fellow Member of Singapore Institute of Arbitrators

Past Professional Affiliations

• Member of Industrial Relations Panel of Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF)
• Chairman of Industrial (Other Areas) Group of SNEF
• Council Member of Singapore Human Resource Institute (SHRI)