KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Bank Employees (Nube) said the decision to raise the retirement age of unionised commercial bank staff was within the ambit of the Employment Act 1955.
Nube president Michael Tan Eng Hong said the decision to raise the retirement age from 60 years old to 61 was a matter of technicality and is legal.
"The current practice for retirement is that when the person reaches their 60th birthday, they will retire from there on.
"What we did was, we negotiated in our collective agreement to enable them to complete their 60th year and retire when they reach 61-years-old."
He said the decision was neither illegal nor in any way contravened the Employment Act 1955. The Act, he said, serves as a minimum standard for employers to follow.
"It's legal to go above the standard set by the Employment Act, as long as the collective agreements are agreed upon by all parties," he told the New Straits Times.
He added that the bank staff also need to comply with criteria set in order to have the retirement age increased.
"Workers have to apply (for the extension of retirement to 61) and fulfill two main conditions, namely to not have any serious medical conditions and no misconduct with their employers."
Meanwhile, Nube assistant secretary general A. Karuna said the decision to extend the retirement age of bank workers was due to demands from the union members themselves.
"We received requests from the union members to extend the retirement age due to financial conditions.
"Those working in the private sector do not receive any pension. Many of the union members feel the burden of having no retirement savings."
She added that the union had initially proposed a retirement age of 65, as recommended by the World Bank for Malaysia, but this was later discussed and brought down to 63.
"We are campaigning for the government to set the retirement age of 63, but due to the legal retirement age of 60 set by the Employment Act, this could not be done.
"However, our collective agreement decided that the retirement age of 61 did not contravene the Employment Act as any collective agreement supersedes any law. In fact, the collective agreement provides better benefits for the workers."
Earlier, Nube secretary-general J Solomon said the new mandatory retirement age was included in the new collective agreement signed with the Malaysian Commercial Banks Association (MCBA).
He said the banks had agreed to the union's request to raise the retirement age to help boost the retirement savings of workers in the B40 (lower-income) and M40 (middle-income) groups.
Solomon said the extension is subject to workers' health and will be voluntary.
The new collective agreement also provides a 15 per cent to 18 per cent rise in salaries, an allowance of one month's salary for festive occasions, and a higher waiver for housing loans.
Source : https://www.nst.com.my/.../nube-says-raising-bank-staff...