Nepal Government Jobs: Is the Policy to Retire Employees at Age 55 or After 30 Years of Service at Once Appropriate?
Image source, NASC Nepal
The government’s plan to retire civil servants all at once upon reaching 55 years of age or completing 30 years of service has drawn criticism from experts.
The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration has drafted the Civil Service Bill and recently sent the draft to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
According to the draft, at the time the act comes into force, civil servants who have reached 55 years of age or completed 30 years of service will be compulsorily retired in one batch.
However, experts warn that the mass retirement of many experienced employees at once could negatively affect overall performance and have recommended alternative arrangements.
Separately, it has been indicated that after this initial retirement, the retirement age for employees would be set at 60 years.
Experts note that even a one-day difference in age could result in an employee losing out on a full five years of service, making the policy of mandatory retirement at these thresholds inappropriate.
Why Did the Government Introduce This Policy?
Image source, NASC
An official from the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, Federal Affairs and General Administration said that although this provision was not included when the bill was first sent to the Ministry of Finance, it was added before sending the draft to the Ministry of Law.
The official acknowledged that while the policy may not be ideal from many perspectives, it leaves little room for opposition from employees.
“This policy was conceived with the idea of replacing older personnel with new staff, recognizing that not all employee demands will be met and that after the restructuring of ministries, the workforce will be adjusted to an appropriate number,” he said.
“According to the government’s 100-point agenda, at least 25% of new employees must be recruited within five years. This is outlined in the 18-point national commitment aligned with political parties’ manifestos and forms the basis for this provision,” he added.
The government’s 100-point agenda for governance reform, announced after its formation, includes plans to reduce the number of ministries without affecting service delivery.
Following that, the government developed an 18-point national commitment in line with political parties’ manifestos, which informed the drafting of this bill.
Discussions within the ministry estimate that approximately eight to ten thousand civil servants will be retired simultaneously if this law is implemented.
However, experts believe that the simultaneous retirement of so many experienced employees is inadvisable for overall administrative performance and recommend the implementation of ‘golden handshake’ voluntary retirement packages as an alternative.
What Do Experts Say?
Experts suggest that forced mass retirement would negatively impact administration, and a voluntary retirement scheme would be preferable.
Former Chief Secretary Bimal Koirala said, “It is not appropriate to introduce sudden provisions in the middle of service for retirement age, which was set at 58 or 60 years at the time of recruitment.”
“Changing conditions mid-service is like substituting a goalkeeper after the football match has ended.”
He added that if a reduction in staff numbers is necessary, implementing a ‘golden handshake’ for voluntary retirement would be appropriate.
“Employees should be incentivized by saying, ‘We will pay you this much extra, please go voluntarily.’”
Former Home Secretary and Public Service Commission Chairman Umesh Mainali also expressed that compulsory retirement is not justified.
He said, “Even though the government aims to right-size its workforce, from an administrative perspective, this new proposal appears unsuitable.”
“There is an option to offer attractive packages to encourage voluntary retirement for many employees, but the current bill forces retirement and then resets the retirement age to 60, which is unjust and legally questionable.”
He suggested that if agreement cannot be reached with the government or the workforce is still excessive, several alternative paths could be considered.
“One option is to freeze new posts; two, offer generous golden handshake packages and voluntary retirement. These would be better approaches,” Mainali added.
“But the current proposal the government is pushing is not an appropriate step.”
Mainali recalled that in 1992 (Bikram Sambat 2049), about three thousand employees were retired at once during Girija Prasad Koirala’s tenure.
At that time, the retirement age was lowered from 60 to 58 years, and employees with 30 years of service were retired simultaneously.
He noted that the current proposal to retire eight to ten thousand employees at once would have a significant impact on administration.
“Losing experienced and trained employees in whom the country has invested heavily could cause problems for the government in the future. Therefore, this requires serious consideration,” he emphasized.
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