Ian Lim quoted in International Employment Lawyer: “Singapore raises retirement age to tackle ageing workforce”

On 04 November 2021, TSMP Law Corporation head of employment and labour Ian Lim was quoted in an article published by International Employment Lawyer on the raising of the statutory retirement age to 65 from 2022. 

Ian said “Singapore has an ageing population, and its birth rate is falling, with fewer working residents for every person aged 65 and above” and he added “At the same time, people in Singapore are living longer, and will need income for longer. It makes sense, therefore, to have people work for longer as well, provided they want to.”

He said that re-employment is the work model adopted in Singapore for employees who have crossed the statutory retirement age. “When an individual passes retirement age, the company can continue with the present employment, or make reasonable adjustments to the terms of employment by way of a re-employment contract. These tend to be rolling contracts of at least a year.”

He also said “If the employer has considered all re-employment options within the company and is still unable to identify a suitable role for the employee, it will then have to either transfer the re-employment obligation to another company if possible – with the employee’s consent, or end the employment with an employment assistance payment to the employee.”