Government's move to amend EPF Act comes under a barrage of protests

The Ceylon Federation of Labour (CFL) has warned against the government’s move to amend the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Act as part of raising the retirement age as proposed by the 2021 Budget. CFL General Secretary T.M.R. Rasseedin, in a letter to Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, has alleged that it appears that the Budget proposal is to be implemented by amending Section 9(1) of the EPF Act, preventing members from withdrawing monies in their own individual accounts before the new retiring age of 60 years.

While the CFL welcomes the government's intention of raising the retirement age of employees in the private sector based on present life expectancy of people, it was disturbed by the move to amend Section 9(1) of EPF Act.

It expressed the belief that this proposal has been made with the intention of curtailing withdrawals from the EPF during the next five years so that the cash strapped government could use the accumulated funds for its own purposes.

"This strategy can threaten the very viability of the EPF," CFL said in its letter, the copies of which had been sent to Secretaries of the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Finance, EPF Superintendent, Commissioner-General of Labour and members of the National Labour Advisory Council.

Previously, a national retirement age and a universal old age pension to go with it has been recognised by trade unions as an acceptable strategy to raise the retirement age of workers. The present proposal, if implemented, would seriously affect employees, especially women, who have already made plans to retire in the next few years.

The CFL said in its letter that any contemplated action in this regard should not be prejudicial to the interests of members of the EPF who presently enjoy the following benefits regarding withdrawal of their balances under the EPF Act.

The union urges that existing employees be exempted from the proposed amendment making it only applicable to new employees or at least provide members with an option to retire and withdraw their EPF balances at their presently recognised retirement age for the next five years.