My mum has worked in a local organisation for the past 19 years. Last August, she was told that, come December, it would be time for her to retire.

No further information was given to her. It was only in the last two weeks of December that she got to see a human-resource representative who handed her a big envelope containing letters to inform her about the termination of her services.

My mum does not speak or read English and she got even more worried when she received the big envelope. She was briefed shortly after that her services would be terminated at the end of December and she would be re-hired under a yearly contract starting this month. She was given three days to decide on the new terms of hire.

The new terms included a pay cut of $200 and cuts in annual leave and lunch time. She will also no longer partake in the organisation's share allocation and will receive no performance bonus except for the 13th-month bonus at the end of the yearly contract.

As to her job scope, she has to continue doing the same amount of cleaning work, and put in longer hours. It was only after some negotiation that she got to keep her old working hours.

What does this tell me? Older workers are at the mercy of their employers, who set the rules. Old folk like my mum have only two choices: stay and get less or leave.

Chew Lay Ling (Ms)