By Philip Ang
I refer to CNA’s Labour movement welcomes PSD’s revision of re-employment terms. (29 July)
It was reported that most civil servants who are re-employed after they turn 62 will have their salaries cut to the mid-point of their salary range.
The salary scale of a Division 3 officer ranges between $1280 and $2080 while that of a Division 4 officer ranges from $1135 to $1400. If the annual increment had, logically, taken into account the average inflation rate of 5 per cent, (chances extremely slim) a Division 4 officer would have reach his pay limit in 5 years and be forced to ‘hentak kaki’.
“Public servants face pay cuts of up to 30 per cent when they are re-employed. The extent of pay cut depends on a formula that the Public Service Division (PSD) has drawn up.”
By reducing to their salaries to the mid point, a Division 3 and 4 officer would be getting about $1270 and $$1680 respectively, translating into an income loss of up to between $130 and $400.
It is a pity that retired civil servants who were re-employed were not appreciated by the government for their loyalty and dedication.
On the issue of ageism, the People Action Party (PAP) appears not to condone ageism openly and had even spoken against it in Parliament in 2007. (link)
Our much respected blogger, Lucky, noted that “The PAP MPs spoke with a lot of emotion against rogue employers who ill treat our beloved senior citizens by practicing ageism”.
But in its own backyard, the PSD has been guilty of not walking the talk and sitting on an issue which has probably led to very low morale of re-employed civil servants.
This is in stark contrast to the private sector where an National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) survey showed that “eight in 10 unionised firms in the private sector did not cut the pay of their workers when re-employing them at age 62”. (link)
It took another government linked organisation, the NTUC, to knock some sense into the PSD to review its reemployment pay policy. But as they say, better late than never.