Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour approves raising retirement age in private sector

By Saman Indrajith

The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour yesterday approved a bill to amend the existing laws to increase the retirement age in the private sector to 60 years.

The consultative committee met with Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva presiding at the Parliament complex and gave approval to present the Minimum Retirement Age of Workers Bill for the approval of the House.

The committee also gave approval to the Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) (Amendment) Bill.

There has not been a set retirement age for most employees in the private sector in particular. Retirement of private sector employees was often based on the terms of the agreement between the employer and the employee.

The second reading debate pertaining to these Bills were scheduled to take place in Parliament on Thursday (11), sources said.

State Minister Piyankara Jayaratne, MPs John Seneviratne, Vadivel Suresh, Ashoka Priyantha, V. Radhakrishnan were present at the meeting.