Cabinet approves Bill to extend retirement age in private sector with conditions

• Those under 52 years of age when new Act comes into effect can work till 60; others till 59

The Cabinet of Ministers at its meeting on Monday approved the Bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman’s Department to extend the retirement age in the private sector to 60 years from 55 years previously.

The Government said the Bill had been subject to multiple stakeholder discussions initiated by the Committee to study policy and legal matters impacting the private sector chaired by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Cabinet approves

The Bill has been prepared inclusive of provisions to extend the retirement age to 60 years with respect to employees who have not attained the age of 52 years on the effective date of the proposed Act. In the case of employees aged 52 years or above on the effective date of the proposed Act they will be employed up to a maximum of 59 years under three age groups.

The private sector is the main employment generator in the country representing the largest share of 42.7% of the total employed population of 7.99 million.

The proposal to increase the retirement age in the private sector was first proposed in the 2021 Budget presented in November last year. Thereafter the Cabinet in March this year approved the move for the Legal Draftsman’s Department to prepare the relevant Bill to amend the maximum age limit for retirement for private sector employees. 

Based on recommendation from the Prime Minister who is also the Labour Minister, the Cabinet of Ministers agreed on the proposal to present the Bill in Parliament for approval.