Default Retirement Age

With effect from 6th April 2011 the default retirement age of 65 has been abolished. What this means is that an employer cannot use retirement as a reason for dismissing an employee. The only way in which an employer can enforce retirement on the grounds of age is if this can be justified objectively as being "a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim".

In practice, this will be increasingly difficult to do.

What this means is that employees will in the future retire when they are ready to, unless an employee is dismissed for another fair reason. Although generally there is no link between increasing age and decreasing performance, it is anticipated that dismissals are likely to be based on the grounds of performance or capability. However, correct procedures will need to be followed, ignoring the fact of the employee's age, and concentrating purely upon the issues of performance or capability which would apply to any employee. Care must also be taken to consider whether any performance or capability issues in a particular employee could be caused by a disability, in which case the provisions of the Equality Act will need to be taken into account. In that case, the employer would have to consider the making of reasonable adjustments, the relevant word being "reasonable".

As you can see, the whole retirement landscape has changed and I anticipate that we will receive a large increase in enquiries from our employer clients on this issue. It will pay to take advice if you are faced with issues relating to an older employee, before you take any action.