SINGAPORE - The Employment Assistance Payment, mandated by law, is meant to help tide over senior workers while they find alternative employment.
He was responding to questions from Mr Vikram Nair on how many workers above age 63 had been retrenched in recent years, and on the rationale for workers who lose their entitlement to retrenchment benefits to be entitled only to Employment Assistance Payments when they reach age 63. “So someone who was very expensive to lay off or retrench at the age of 63, suddenly becomes very cheap to lay off,” said Mr Nair. “And because senior workers also have the greatest difficulty getting re-employment, I think it’s important for them to be protected.”
The Government also wants to avoid disincentivising senior workers from searching for another job if they are not successfully re-employed, he added.