Wednesday April 11, 2012

Bill on retirement age to be tabled in June

A PROPOSAL to increase the retirement age in the private sector to 60 will be tabled at the next Parliament sitting in June.

The draft proposal for the Private Sector Retirement Bill contains feedback from various stakeholders, said Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan.

She said meetings and consultations had been held with government agencies, employers and workers’ groups.

“The draft of the proposed laws to bring the retirement age for the private sector in line with civil servants is with the Attorney-General’s Chambers and expected to be tabled at the next sitting,” she told Parliament yesterday.

Under the proposed law, the retirement age for private sector employees will be raised from 55 to 60 to match the retirement age of government employees.

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) had initially opposed the move while the MTUC welcomed it, saying it would benefit more than six million private sector employees nationwide.

On a separate issue, Maznah also clarified a question raised by Sim Tong Him (DAP-Kota Melaka) on whether the proposed pension scheme might see an employee’s contribution to the Employees Provident Fund slashed from 13% to 5% following the increase in the retirement age.

She said the EPF contribution rate would be determined by a proposed law for a pension scheme, which is currently under study.

“The ministry has come up with the terms of reference and is now holding talks with the relevant parties,” she said.

Maznah added that the study would also include comprehensive studies covering expert views from the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank.

News

Wednesday April 11, 2012

Bill on retirement age to be tabled in June