Dread and confusion face many employees at the end of their working lives.

Dread and confusion face many employees at the end of their working lives.

Many employers do not offer their workers pensions, and years of loyal service will be rewarded with a handshake, a farewell party, a pat on the back - and little else.

This is perfectly legal in many sectors and workers raised in a culture of rights, who expect to be supported in their retirement, often are in for a shock.

The government set up our labour laws and the government should be held responsible for this massive oversight.

We need a compulsory national retirement fund for all workers who wo not collect a pension from their employers. It is long overdue.

Politicians, NGOs, unions and employers have debated the issue for years, but all their fine plans and good intentions mean nothing to the folks retiring from a lifetime of employment today on nothing more than the government's farcically inadequate old-age grant.

All employees should in future contribute to a pension during their working lives so that they can retire with dignity in their golden years.

Meantime, the government and employers should cough up for a fund to take care of those who slipped through the cracks. Only a brutally uncaring society condemns its elderly to penury at the end of their working lives..