proposals are primarily aimed at more elderly employees,
employees younger than 40 will only receive a proportion
of the statutory
statutory payment. It is proposed, as in the
case of severance pay, that the amount of the payment
should be two-thirds of a month's wage for each year of
service, up to a maximum of twelve months' wages.
It is proposed that a payment thus calculated
will be reduced by a quarter in the case
of an
an employee
aged 36 or more but less than 40, and by a half in the
case of an employee aged less than 36. Such employees
being in their prime of life, should have little
difficulty in finding alternative employment and
therefore have little real need of the protection
afforded by this Bill.
The employer will be required to make the long
service payment, together with other sums due such as
arrears of wages or wages in lieu of notice, as soon as
possible after an employee's contract of employment is
terminated by him, and in any case not later than seven
days after the date of termination, and must give him a
written statement indicating how the amount has been
calculated.
Following the practice adopted when severance
pay was introduced, it is proposed to set a cut-off date
for reckonable service to limit the initial liability on