RETIREMENT AND PENSION.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 263, 6 November 1929, Page 6

RETIREMENT AND PENSION.

The annual report of the Civil Commissioner discusses, among other interesting topics, the question of the age of retirement. The Public Service Act fixes 65' as the age of compulsory retirement on pension, but an official who has served for 40 years generally retires at 60. Mr. Verschaffelt holds that this practice, on the whole, is in Ihte best interests of the service. But in our opiniion it is open to criticism on two distinct grounds. In the first place, it by no means follows that because a man has reached 60, or even 65 ryears of age, therefore he is less fit to discharge his duties than before. Such a rule might hold good in occupations which involve the expenditure of much physical strength. But ire the Civil Service, whatever slight loss of eruergy may be implied by reaching these age limits, should be more than counterbalanced by' the increase in efficiency through long experience and training. It is unfortunate that the country should be deprived of the services of experienced officials when long tenure of office has raised their efficiency to its culminatimg point, and most of them are still capable of discharging their duties satisfactorily. Moreover, officials on retirement receive pensioros, and if they retire at 60 instead of 65 a heavier charge is thrown upon public funds to support them. This argument applies with even greater force to the case .of civil servants who, having served 40 years, are allowed to retire befoire 60, and, of course, draw their pensions forthwith. It appears to us that compulsory retirement at 65 as an invariable rule, may be mistaken policy, and it seems evident that the rule of retirement at or before 60 not only needlessly robs the State of the services of valuable employees, but also helps to swell unduly that steady increase in the costs of the Public Service which Mr. Verschaffelt's report discloses. : [',