SINGAPORE — The labour movement has called on the public sector to review its practice of implementing tiered pay cuts for older workers at the point of re-employment.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How said this is to bring the sector in line with what is being practised in the private sector.

The Retirement and Re-employment Act requires employers to offer re-employment to eligible staff when they turn 62.

A recent survey of over 100 unionised companies has shown that about four in five companies give workers they re-employ the same pay as before, if they are doing the same work.

Another survey, this time of companies in general and conducted by the Manpower Ministry, yielded similar results.

Mr Heng said this shows that employers in general value their re-employed workers and their contributions. He said: “Some companies will say, ‘I have to take care of myself, where I keep my workforce internally young, so that I don’t have too many older workers, and I don’t need to worry about their healthcare costs’.”

“That’s not what we want to see and, if that happens pervasively, then actually, we will have a big problem. So rather than going down that road or talking generally, then we feel that we got to have an incentive.”

Mr Heng was speaking at the U Live Symposium, where he also said that NTUC will collaborate with the Health Promotion Board to help companies tap grants under the WorkPro Programme, a tripartite initiative that began in April.

He added that companies will benefit directly from grants as well as save on health expenditure as their older workers maintain or improve their health. Channel NewsAsia