| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE : The Manpower Ministry is already working with several employers to re-employ older workers after retirement, even before legislation on re-employment is finalised.
In an interview with Channel NewsAsia, Minister of State for Manpower, Gan Kim Yong says it will take time for a mindset change of the concept of re-employment of older workers.
There have been significant improvements in the re-employment rates of older workers in the past year.
Thanks to the buoyant economy and measures which the tripartite partners have put in place to encourage companies to do so.
One such scheme is called ADVANTAGE, which provides funds for companies to redesign jobs and retrain older workers.
Since June last year, 114 companies have benefited from it.
Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State - Manpower and Education, says: "We want to take the next two to three years to work with companies, first on a voluntary basis, to work on re-employment systems so that they are able to work out the re-employment arrangements with the employer and employees. Once they are familiar with the re-employment system, by the time we introduce the legislation, implementation would be much smoother."
Mr Gan explains that from companies' feedback, most of them understood the need and the value of older workers.
But he adds that some companies have reservations, especially when they've not been employing older workers.
For them, they would need to change some of the work procedures so that the jobs are more age-friendly.
Introducing a re-employment legislation in Singapore is also expected to have an impact on collective agreements and the Manpower Ministry believes unions in Singapore will discuss this aspect with employers when re-negotiating their agreements.
Mr Gan says: "Some companies may decide it should be negotiated with unions upfront but what one key feature of re-employment is its flexibility. So for workers to be re-employed beyond the retirement age they may be employed for different jobs that are suitable for them, that they will like to do and the company sees a need in this particular job position.
"It is something that provides flexibility both to the workers as well as the employers. So if it is to be included in the Collective Agreement, the flexibility will still have to be preserved because that is a key feature of re-employment."
A key concern of the Singapore National Employers Federation is the fate of older workers in times of an economic downturn.
So how will the re-employment legislation respond to economic downturns?
Mr Gan said: "When there is an economic problem, when we are facing economic crisis, we are confident based on our tripartite relationship we will always be able to find a solution to help companies adjust to the economic environment at that point in time and also to help workers to adjust to the crisis they are facing.
"Rather than pre-empting what's going to happen in a downturn, based on our experience and strong tripartite relations we have built up over the years and based on confidence and trust, we will be able to weather all these crises that may happen in the future."
For the new year, Mr Gan is hopeful about more new jobs for locals and foreigners.
And he believes 2008 will also be a good year for older workers in the job market. - CNA/ch
|
