Act concerning stabilization of employment of older persons

1. Significance of the Act Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons (1) Development of the Act Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons A large number of baby boomers are retiring in the coming years. Under the mandatory retirement system it was normal to retire at age 60, a turning point that changed the lifestyle from work to retirement. This retirement process had virtually been determined not by the labor law but by the public pension system, and policies were introduced to link the pensionable age to the retirement age. This link was made through the Act Concerning Stabilization of Employment of Older Persons (hereinafter “Older Persons Act”). The Older Persons Act was established in 1986 after a drastic revision of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Job Development for Middle-aged and Older Persons. This Act was designed to raise the retirement age while the retirement was introduced at the age below 60 at a majority of businesses among those that provided the fixed retirement age program, and it defined a provision (Article 4) obliging employers to make efforts to establish programs for retiring at the age of 60. With administrative guidance and promotions provided to employers, the program to retire at the age of 60 was implemented by a majority of businesses that provided the fixed retirement age program. In 1990, another provision (Article 4-5) was defined to oblige employers to make efforts to establish reemployment of those who reached the age of 60 (persons reaching the retirement age). In the period when the retirement program at the age of 60 was beginning to be established, a considerable attempt was made to raise the pensionable age