Federal Civil Service Bill Heads to Parliament: What Would Change?

Dragon Media News Desk

The government has approved a federal civil service bill for submission to Parliament. It proposes mandatory retirement for employees who have reached the age of 55 or completed 30 years of service when the law takes effect. This would be a one-time transitional measure. Employees who remain in service afterwards would retire at 60. Under the current law, the general retirement age is 58.

The bill also proposes counting additional years of service for pension purposes so that employees required to retire early do not lose pension benefits. Up to three years would be added for those retiring at 55, and up to seven years for those retiring after 30 years of service. These added years would be used to calculate pensions; they would not be years the employees must actually work.

The draft was revised after the Public Service Commission raised concerns about protecting existing conditions of employment. Current civil service law restricts changes that adversely affect an employee’s benefits without consent. Debate over the retirement proposal contributed to the roughly six months it took to prepare the bill for Parliament.

None of the proposed changes is in force yet. The bill must be tabled, examined and passed by Parliament. The final wording of the law will determine exactly which employees are covered and how the retirement provisions apply.