Retirement Age Act

The Retirement Age (RA) Act covers all employees who are Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents, including those in managerial, professional and executive positions.

Exemption from Retirement Age Act

Some categories of employees are exempted from the Act's coverage. These include persons employed to work on a specific project for a fixed term. The full list of employees exempted from the Act's coverage can be found under the Retirement Age (Exemption) Notification.

A workpass holder who obtains Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR) status is exempted from the RA Act if he/she continues to be employed under the same employment contract or further renewal under the same contract. However, if there is a break in the employment contract or variations in the terms and conditions of employment, the SPR will no longer be exempted from the RA Act.

An employee, who before 1 July 1993, is covered by any retirement benefit scheme approved by the Minister, which provides for retirement on or before the age of 60 years, from the Retirement Age Act is exempted from the RA Act.

The exemption does not apply to retirement benefit schemes which are established after 1 July 1993, or employee who are covered by any approved scheme after 1 July 1993.

Employees aged below 62 years who are employed to work on a specific project for a fixed term or are placed on a temporary contract which, including any extension of the contract, is not more then 2 years, are exempted under the Retirement Age Act.

A person who is employed on fixed term contract beyond a 2-year period or on a contract including its renewal exceeds 2 years, will be covered under the RA Act. This does not apply to employees aged above 62 years. They and their employers may wish to mutually agree on the type and the period of the contract of employment they wish to enter into.

Retirement Age

With effect from 1 Jan 1999, the minimum retirement age is 62 years.

An employee can be retired the day before his/her 62nd birthday.

However, if the retirement age is not specified in the employment contract, the employer should give the employee advance notice as stipulated in the contract.

The above information are extracted from www.mom.gov.sg and is accurate as of 30 July 2007.