Default Retirement Age to be retired from 6 April 2011

Following the announcement in the Budget that the DRA would be phased out from April 2011, with the exception of a six month transition from the existing regulations – the latest date that an employee could be retired under the DRA would need to fall before 1 October 2011 – the Government has today published proposals that will prevent retirement in most workplaces.

Currently employers can make staff retire at 65 regardless of their circumstances, but this is set to change from 6 April 2011. From this date, employers wishing to have a compulsory retirement age will need to objectively justify this with a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

In the absence of an objectively justifiable retirement age, employers will need to rely upon a reason set out in section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 – following an appropriate disciplinary procedure. The reasons will have to relate to:

• capability or qualification of the employee;
• the conduct of the employee;
• redundancy;
• the employee being unable to continue to work in the position due to a legal duty or restriction.

The consultation is open until 21 October 2010, and can be found at www.bis.gov.uk/retirement-age.

Employers with a staff approaching retirement (either the default 65 or any other retirement age that the employment contract currently dictates), should make plans now to ensure all actions are taken in good time. For all other cases, employers will need to ensure their disciplinary procedures are comprehensive & robust enough to reply upon to end employment. For a free consultation & review of your disciplinary policies, or for general advice on conducting disciplinary procedures, write to us at dra@employmentlawclinic.com, or for more advice see the disciplinary pages on this site.

Filed under: Discrimination, General News, Laws & Regulations by Employment Law Clinic           Post created on: July 29th, 2010