Cabinet approves draft bill on extending private sector retirement age

The Cabinet of Ministers has given the nod to the draft bill to be presented to the Parliament by Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva to extend the retirement age of private-sector employees to 60 years, says the Government Information Department.

On March 23, 2021, the Cabinet granted the approval to prepare a bill to amend the existing minimum age limit for the retirement of private-sector employees.

The bill prepared accordingly was further discussed with the participation of all relevant parties in the Committee to Study on Policy and Legal Matters Affecting the Business Sector chaired by the Prime Minister.

The bill includes the provisions to extend the retirement age to 60 years with respect to employees who have not attained the age of 52 on the effective date of the proposed Act and the case of employees who are aged 52 or above on the effective date of the proposed Act to employ them under 3 age groups up to a maximum age of 59 years.

Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by Labour Minister to present the minimum retirement age for private-sector employees Act prepared by the legal draftsman in Parliament for approval.