I refer to the article “SIA cuts flying years : Captains to stop at 64, first officers at 62″ (Straits Times, Mar 7).
Undisclosed compensation for pilots?
It states that “In accordance with government guidelines and SIA’s re-employment agreement with its pilots’ union, affected pilots will receive an undisclosed lump sum payment when they leave the company”.
Re-employment Act?
When I read this – my first thought was what does the Re-employment Act say about situations like this?
Only $10,000 maximum compensation?
According to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) WEB SITE -
“Assisting Eligible Employees whom Employers are Unable to Re-employ
The Tripartite Guidelines recommend that EAP should be a last resort for employers who cannot offer re-employment despite their best efforts. The EAP amount could be 3 months of salary. A minimum amount of $4,500 and a maximum amount of $10,000 could be considered.”
- So, does it mean that under the Re-employment Act – the maximum compensation for not offering re-employment at age 62, may only be about $10,000?
Protecting workers?
Isn’t the legislation arguably, rather weak in protecting workers?
Do we have possibly the weakest re-employment legislation in the world, from the perspective of workers’ rights?
Leong Sze Hian
*Leong is the Past President of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, an alumnus of Harvard University, has authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been host of a money radio show, a daily newspaper column, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for Malaysiakini, executive producer of the movie Ilo Ilo (24 international awards). He has served as Honorary Consul of Jamaica and founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of Brunei and Indonesia. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors and 13 professional qualifications.