Singapore public sector extends re-employment age to 67

THE Singapore Public Service has decided to formally extend its re-employment age to 67 from 65.

Beginning Jan 1, 2015, it will formalise arrangements to offer re-employment to all eligible officers till the age of 67. This will immediately benefit some 800 public officers turning 65 years old next year.

Public officers are currently re-employed up to age 65 when they reach the statutory retirement age of 62.

Before Thursday's announcement, public agencies are already voluntarily re-employing officers beyond the age of 65, if the officers wish to continue working and they can contribute to the work of the agencies. There are about 1,000 public officers re-employed beyond age 65 today.

The decision taken by the Public Service Division was made after it studied the recommendations made by the Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers on extending the re-employment age.

As one of the largest employers in Singapore, the Public Service, which has 139,000 officers, decided to take the lead on this decision, which it took in consultation with the ministries, statutory boards and public sector unions.