Ten former Fair Work Commission members, including outspoken critic Graeme Watson, retired early within months of qualifying for a full pension at the age of 60, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross told the senate estimates hearing on Thursday night that the former vice-president Graeme Watson retired this year on a maximum pension of $272,544 per year.

When Mr Watson announced his resignation in January he declared the Fair Work Commission was "partisan, dysfunctional and divided".

A former partner at law firm Freehills, Mr Watson was the last remaining Coalition appointee in a senior role at the commission and a strong dissenter in favour of business. The Coalition made three new appointments last week.