Towards an ageing workforce

The government has confirmed that it will remove the Default Retirement Age (DRA) and proceed with its plan to phase it out between 6 April and 1st October 2011.

The Default Retirement age currently gives employers the power to force workers over the age of 65 to retire regardless of their circumstances. However as of the 6th April employers will lose this power and no longer be able to issue any notifications for compulsory retirement using the DRA procedure.

Only people who were notified before 6 April and whose retirement date is before 1 October will be able to be compulsorily retired using the DRA. While the government is removing the legislation, individual employers can operate a compulsory retirement age, provided that they are able to objectively justify it.

Good People were recently present at a meeting Prime Minister David Cameron had with local business people. Overwhelmingly, their concerns were with the demands Government was placing on them in terms of employment legislation. This legislation means employees will no longer have to fear being forced from their job due to their age but it also means that employers will be unable to bring in new staff until their old staff retires. Sometimes good news for the workforce is not so good for employers. But there are bigger themes at work here too, not least the Government's wish to minimize its pension liabilities given the structural problems with our Government spending. We start work later and live longer than we used to, and with superior medical attention and technology. We should be able to work for longer too.