The government’s decision to enhance the age limit for retirement of employees in the private sector from 58 to 60 years has come into effect with the labour secretariat issuing the final notification on Monday.

The notification brings an amendment to Schedule–1 of Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules, 1961, which pertains to retirement age. The draft notification was issued by the department on December 7, 2009.

The move will benefit around 21 lakh employees in the private sector. The immediate beneficiaries will be those retiring in March as they will get two more years of service.

The Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules divide employees into two groups. One group pertains to clerks and “ministerial staff,” including assistants and peons, and the other pertains to employees other than clerks and ministerial staff. The  notification states that the enhancement in retirement age applies to both groups.

The new rule will not apply to Information Technology, Information Technology Enabled Services, startups, BPO and other knowledge-based industries at least till January 25, 2019.  For, the government has exempted these industries from the Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules 1961, till this date.