Gov't
forces companies to raise retirement age to 65
Mainichi Shimbun, Japan
October 22, 2003
Labor
Ministry officials have laid the groundwork to legally oblige companies to
employ willing workers until they are entitled to start drawing on full
benefits of the old age pension, the Mainichi has learned.
Ministry
of Health, Labor and Welfare officials will present a bill for revisions
to the Diet next year requiring companies to continue employing workers
who have reached the organization's retirement age but are still too young
to start receiving their pension.
Ministry
officials insisted on the step amid opposition from businesses. The move
would also complement the rise in the age at which people begin to receive
old age pension benefits from the current 60 to the 65 by 2025.
"Jobs
come first," a top official at the ministry said on condition of
anonymity. "We don't care if people who reach the mandatory
retirement age are only paid at the minimum wage as long as they are kept
on."
To
get businesses on side, ministry officials appear likely to leave
negotiations on employment conditions for post-retirement age workers to
employees and employers.
Current
laws require employers to set their organizations' retirement age at 60 or
over. But employers are obliged only to try and continue employing workers
until they are 65. Ministry figures show that 89.2 percent of companies
have a retirement age of 60, while only 28.8 percent will continue
employing workers after they have reached retirement age until they are
65.
Revisions
to the Pension Law in 2000 provided for an incremental raising of the age
when those eligible could first begin receiving old age pensions,
beginning in 2013. In that year, the minimum retirement age will move from
60 to 61. After that, the age will be gradually raised until it reaches
65.
Under
existing laws, employers are only obligated to keep people on until they
are 60. Without changing the law, workers would be left with a five-year
gap without income or employment.
Neither
employees or employers are particularly happy about raising the minimum
retirement age to 65, but will work toward creating a system where those
who want to continue working after passing their employer's retirement age
will be able to do so until they reach the minimum retirement age of 65.
From 2025,
employers will be legally required to continue employing willing workers
until they are 65.
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