Employer thinks you are too old? Here's how the laws protect you

New workplace legislation promises stronger safeguards, but ageing on the job still brings challenges

- Sumiko Tan

Three months before Mr Francis Ng turned 63 in 2024, he received a letter from his employer titled "Health concerns".

In it, he was told he was being put on early retirement, and had one month's notice to leave the company.

Mr Ng, a production manager at a factory that makes kitchen counter tops, was flummoxed. What "health concerns" was his boss referring to?

The only thing he could think of was how, a few weeks earlier, he had been given five days of medical leave for heartburn.

He had been with the company for 18 years, though under a different management before. He says he was a diligent worker, showing up six days a week, and was known for his skill at driving a forklift.

When he raised the letter with his boss, he was met with remarks like "your eyes cannot see properly any more". That made him more furious. "Are you a doctor?" I asked him. He kept quiet." Mr Ng told his employer that a recent polyclinic check-up had found nothing wrong with his eyesight.

He turned to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) for help. After a month of negotiations, his employer agreed to give him an employment assistance payment of just under $10,000, to be paid in six instalments. He did not get his job back.

"I felt disappointed and very sad," he says of how he was treated. "It wasn't even a retrenchment with compensation but 'early retirement'".

A father of two grown-up daughters, Mr Ng now works part-time as a cashier at a petrol station while his wife teaches at a kindergarten.

His experience isn't unique. Age discrimination in the workplace is more common than many may realise.

Sometimes, it is blatant, as in Mr Ng's case. At other times, it is harder to prove, like when mature job seekers never get called for interviews even though they tick every box.