P’ment passes Bill to extend private sector retirement age

The Bill to extend the retirement age of private sector employees to 60 years was passed in Parliament with amendments yesterday.

The Cabinet of Ministers on 11 October approved to draft a Bill to extend the retirement age of private sector employees to 60 years. The draft Bill, originally proposed on 23 March, was further discussed by a Committee on Study on Policy or Legal Matters Affecting the Business Sector chaired by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. 

On Tuesday, the Minimum Retirement Age of Workers Bill had received the approval of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour for the purpose of being presented to Parliament.

The Second Reading Debate pertaining to these Bills took place in Parliament yesterday.

The Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Bill also received the approval of the Committee.

The Bill was presented to the Parliament on 22 October by the Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

The bill includes the provisions to extend the retirement age to 60 years with respect to employees who have not attained the age of 52 on the effective date of the proposed Act and the case of employees who are aged 52 or above on the effective date of the proposed Act to employ them under three age groups up to a maximum age of 59 years.

Retirement of private sector employees was often based on the terms of the agreement between the employer and the employee.