Retirement age – goodbye and good riddance?

Friday, 26 August 2011 00:00

October sees the start of the end of the default retirement age as those who were given 6 months notice of intention to be retired reach the end of the notice period.

The removal of the default retirement age this year has been met with divided opinion broadly split between employers and employees. Many employees see the end of the retirement age as an opportunity to work on and supplement pensions or just to stay active. Certainly, this is the Government's aim in order to ultimately increase the state pension age but also removes the misconception that an employee who reaches 65 somehow suddenly stops working productively.

Employers, whether sympathising with these general points or not, are met with a difficult problem; what to do next. For all that the default retirement age was unpopular; it gave certainty to employers about end of career issues. In our experience, employers are not frustrated by the fact that employees are now entitled to carry on working passed 65, but that they do not know how to deal with issues such as succession planning, career development for younger workers, flexible working and voluntary retirement. These issues were resolved neatly when there was a general career cut off point.

Additionally, it is likely there will be an increase in situations where an employer sees a decline in a workers performance past 65 but is worried about dealing with it because of the employee's right to continue working, and the suggestion that it might be discrimination to deal with it. This is the elephant in the room.

Finally, there will be situations where an employee may not have given appropriate notice to an employee who is now coming up to retirement. Expensive tribunal claims could be an unhappy result.

These issues remain hot topics, and will continue to be so for some time. Our autumn series of seminars will cover these issues including the new Employer Justified Retirement Age, the elephant in the room, and examine the question "what happens now?" . All from a practical point of view. Further details about our seminars will be coming out very shortly to those on our mailing list. If you would like to join our mailing list please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call Sarah Bott on 01392 667699.

For employment advice on this or any other topic, contact the employment team on 01392 207020 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .