Retirement Age Act

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“collective agreement” has the same meaning as in the

Employment Order, 2009 (S 37/2009);

“contract of service” means any agreement, whether in writing or oral, express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve his employer as an employee;

“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under a contract of service with an employer;

“employer” means any person who employs another person under a contract of service and includes —

For the purposes of this Act, an employee shall be treated as dismissed by his employer if —

Notwithstanding anything in any other written law, contract of service or collective agreement, the retirement age of an employee shall be not less than 60 years.

No employer shall dismiss on the ground of age any employee who is below the age of 60 years.

Any employer who contravenes subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

to exclude or limit the operation of any provision of this Act;

or

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to preclude any person from making a representation, claim or application under this Act.

Where any employee below the age of 60 years considers that he has been unlawfully dismissed on the ground of age, he may, within one month of the dismissal, make representations in writing to the Minister to be reinstated in his former employment.

The Minister may, before making a decision on any such representations, direct an investigating officer in writing to investigate and report whether in his opinion the employee has been unlawfully dismissed on the ground of age:

Provided that, if the employee is a public officer, the Minister shall seek the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan before making any such direction.

If, after considering any report made by an investigating officer under subsection (2), the Minister is satisfied that the employee has been unlawfully dismissed by his employer on the ground of age, the Minister may, notwithstanding any rule of law or agreement to the contrary —

In determining the amount of compensation to be awarded under subsection (3), the Minister shall, in particular, have regard to —

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The decision of the Minister on any representation made under this section is final.

Any direction of the Minister under subsection (3) shall operate as a bar to any action for damages by the employee in any court in respect of the unlawful dismissal on the ground of age.

Any employer who fails to comply with the direction of the

Minister under subsection (3) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both.

Where any amount to be paid by an employer under subsection (3)

is not paid in accordance with the direction of the Minister and the employer has been convicted of an offence under subsection (7), the amount or so much thereof as remains unpaid shall be recoverable by the court as if it were a fine and the amount so recovered shall be paid to the employee entitled to payment under the direction of the Minister.

The Minister may, by writing under his hand, delegate all or any of his powers under this section (except this power of delegation) to any public officer.

A delegation under subsection (9) is revocable at will and no delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power by the Minister.

A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to have been exercised by the

Minister.

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An investigating officer may enter without previous notice at any reasonable time any place of employment and make such enquiry into the conditions of employment of any employee as he may think fit.

In the course of an investigation under section 8(1), an investigating officer may —

Any person who hinders or obstructs an investigating officer in the exercise of the power under this section or makes to an investigating officer exercising the power under this section a statement either orally or in writing which is false in any material particular is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

An investigating officer may, in his discretion, compound any offence under this Act which is prescribed to be a compoundable offence by accepting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $500.

The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and

Yang Di-Pertuan, make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded.

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The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and

Yang Di-Pertuan, by notification published in the Gazette, exempt with or without conditions any person or class of person from all or any of the provisions of this Act.

The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and

Yang Di-Pertuan, at any time revoke any such exemption, vary or revoke any existing conditions or impose new conditions.

The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and

Yang Di-Pertuan, make regulations which are necessary or expedient for giving effect to or for carrying out the provisions of this Act and for prescribing anything which may be prescribed and generally for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect, and for the due administration thereof.

Such regulations may include such incidental, consequential and supplementary provisions as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.