KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- The Congress of Unions of Employees in
the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has suggested that workers be given the
option to withdraw Employees Provident Funds (EPF) contributions at age 55 or
60.
Its secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said, since the issue was highlighted,
Cuepacs received feedback from the implementing group that they disagreed EPF
contributions be withdrawn only at age 60.
She said the withdrawal of EPF at age 60 must be studied and scrutinised
first before it was officially implemented.
"We need to look at three categories of workers, namely, high income
earners, moderate and low. Normally, moderate and low income earners need money
to settle debts and loans before retiring. Some use the money for their
retirement to pay for their children''s education," she said in a statement,
here, today.
Lok was comenting on the anxiety of EPF contributors on the age limit for
withdrawing contributions which now could be made at age 55, following the
tabling of a Minimum Retirement Bill 2012 for first reading in Parliament last
Wednesday which stipulated that the minimum retirement age for private sector
employee be extended to age 60 with effect from January next year.
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CUEPACS-EPF 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR
On June 18, Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said, the
government had not decided on the age limit for taking out the EPF contributions
after allowing the extension of the retirement age limit for private sector
employees to 60.
He urged EPF contributors not to be influenced by allegations that
withdrawals could only be made after they reached the age of 60.
According to the bill, employers could not force workers to retire before
reaching 60 years and they could be fined up to RM10,000 if they did so.
-- BERNAMA
CS MOK AZ AO