Guidelines revised for rehiring older workers

GUIDELINES for the re-employment of older workers have been updated and revised, along with a boost in the grants to help employers put in place the changes needed for their effective employment.

These adjustments and enhancements are intended to help prepare employers for the move to raise the re-employment age from 65 to 67 on July 1 next year, the Ministry of Manpower and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency said in a press release.

Two key changes have been made in the guidelines, and they affect the employment assistance payment (EAP) and medical benefits.

The cap for EAP, the payout to help older workers not offered re-employment tide over the time while they seek another job, will be raised from S$10,000 to S$13,000.

Also, the EAP can be reduced over time as the worker approaches the age of 67.

On the medical benefits, the Tripartite Committee on the Employability of Olders Workers, the panel with government, employer and worker representatives who drew the guidelines, has added leveraging Medishield Life - eg by providing additional Medisave contributions - as an option for employers to consider.

As for the boost given to support employers to put in place age-friendly practices to make work easier, safer and smarter for older workers, S$66 million will be made available to them over three years under the enhanced WorkPro schemes. This will kick in from July 1, 2016.

Among the enhancements are: A maximum of S$300,00 for job re-design, twice the level of funding under the existing grant; and S$20,000 for employers in adopting more - from two to four - good workplace and hiring practices which directly benefit older workers.