The National Human Rights Commission noted on the 10th that it recommended the Prime Minister and the Minister of Employment and Labor to promote measures to raise the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 on the 27th of last month.
The recommendation to raise the mandatory retirement age was made to ensure the right to a dignified life and the survival rights of older workers in our society. The commission pointed out that the legal retirement age in our country is 60, while the age for receiving the national pension starts at 65, resulting in a period of over five years without income. It stated, "a serious issue that threatens individual economic stability."
The age for starting to receive the national pension was previously 60 but was raised to 61 in 2013 due to pension reforms, and it has been increasing by one year every five years thereafter. This year, individuals will start receiving the pension at age 63, and from 2033, they must be 65 to receive the pension.
The employment rate for those aged 65 and older is 37.3% as of 2023, ranking first among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, more than double the average. The commission explained that the issue of elderly poverty in our country is serious, with many seniors remaining in the labor market to make a living despite their age.
In contrast, the employment rate for those aged 60 to 64 ranked 12th in 2019. From 2015 to 2019, the increase in the employment rate for this age group was recorded as 13.3 percentage points in Denmark, 8.4 percentage points in Germany, and 8.1 percentage points in Japan.
The commission stated, "The reason for this is that these countries have either delayed the age for receiving pensions to above 65 or actively pursued policies to stimulate employment among older adults." It explained that Japan has maintained a "mandatory retirement age of 60" while requiring corporations to choose and implement one of three options: raising the retirement age to 65, abolishing the retirement system, or introducing a system of continued employment until age 65.
The commission also cited the Supreme Court's decision in February 2019 to raise the operational lifespan defining compensation standards for general manual laborers from the previous age of 60 to 65 as a basis for extending the mandatory retirement age. It noted, "The European Court of Justice and the Federal Labor Court of Germany have ruled that the retirement age should be set at least above the pension eligibility age."
However, the commission stated that even if the mandatory retirement age is raised, the government must devise ways to operate the wage peak system effectively to reduce the burden on corporations, ensuring that the hiring of young individuals does not decline. It also recommended that the government prepare measures such as tax benefits, financial support, and labor cost support for corporations that expand job opportunities for older adults, including extending the retirement age.
To extend the mandatory retirement age, it is necessary to amend the "Act on the Prohibition of Age Discrimination in Employment and the Promotion of Employment of Older Persons." Discussions regarding measures to expand employment for older adults, such as extending the mandatory retirement age, reemployment after retirement, and abolishing mandatory retirement, are ongoing in the Economic, Social and Labor Council (Korean National Assembly).