The call by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for extension of the retirement age of workers must be supported by science and data, labour consultant, Senyo Adjabeng and Secretary-General of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), Solomon Kotei have stated.

In an interview with this paper, Mr Adjabeng recommended the TUC undertook the appropriate research before putting forward the proposal.

ICU noted that life expectancy played a major role in the pension age and as such, it must be looked at before extending the age limit from 60 to 65 years as proposed by the Greater Accra Regional Council of the TUC.

Mr Kotei, however, told this paper it was a welcome call for the retirement age to be extended since most employees at that age had attained the full skills and training needed for the job.

“At that point, they have gone through all the courses and seminars to acquire all the requisite knowledge at the twilight age of their working life. So immediately they become more useful and equipped then age 60 appears,” he explained.

Mr Kotei advocated that in the absence of the extension, such pensioners with experiences should be given contracts or bids to offer some consultancy services.

He noted that if retirement ages are extended, employees would stop changing their date of birth when they near 60.

Commitment to work low after age 60

The ICU Boss indicated that most employees at that age showed a low level of commitment to work.

“Their commitment to the work is quite different, from when they started,” he stressed.

He also noted that if the retirement age was extended, the opportunity for some recruitments would not be forthcoming.

“If you look at the unemployment stock it’s because people are not leaving the system for others also to get there,” Mr Kotei explained.

He advised that if the age would be extended, a quality analysis must be done to find out what retirees can offer and their usefulness to the system.

Benefits of extending retirement age

Considering what goes on in most developed nations, when the ages of pensioners are extended, one can save for longer to a make difference in their retirement savings.

Retirees who would have their pension’s age extended would also get the opportunity to take their Social Security later when they cannot work so hard.

Employees can continue taking advantage of healthcare and other employment benefits.

Workers would also become eligible for more pension money from the employer.
Pensioners would also get to stay engaged and keep their minds active.