Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim and I raised questions to the Minister for Manpower in Parliament today (4 Oct 2022) on senior citizen re-employment:
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Asked the Minister for Manpower (a) from 2016 to date, how many appeals on re-employment disputes has the Ministry received annually; (b) how many of these appeals are successful; and (c) what are the main reasons for unsuccessful appeals.
Ms Sylvia Lim: Asked the Minister for Manpower regarding re-employment disputes reported in 2016 to 2020 (a) how many notifications have been received by the Commissioner for Labour under section 8A of the Retirement and Re-employment Act (RRA); (b) of these cases, how many and what proportion are subsequently referred to the Minister for decision under section 8B of the RRA after conciliation failed; and (c) what proportion of cases are found to be substantiated.
Ms Sylvia Lim: Asked the Minister for Manpower regarding re-employment disputes reported in 2016 to 2020, of the cases where the employee succeeded in obtaining compensation under sections 8A and 8B of the Retirement and Re-employment Act, in how many cases was the errant employer a public sector employer.
Some of my elderly residents have shared with me their experiences of being passed over for jobs for younger candidates, or not getting re-employed after reaching retirement age. Many are reluctant to even try looking for work, because of their bad experiences with age discrimination.
I made some suggestions on how to counter age discrimination at the workplace:
First, that MOM embark on an extensive and sustained public education and engagement campaign to ingrain in the mindsets of everyone in Singapore that age discrimination is morally, socially and legally unacceptable, and ultimately hurts the ability of companies to attract and retain good workers.
Second, to look into improving the reporting and appeals process to better assist older workers who have experienced age discrimination.
