Default Retirement Age To Be Phased Out By October

The government has now confirmed that the Default Retirement Age (DRA) is to be phased out, meaning that employers will no longer be able to force staff to retire at 65. The changes will take place between 6 April and 1 October 2011.

Currently the DRA enables employers to make staff retire at 65 regardless of their circumstances. The measures were first proposed by the coalition government in July 2010 to help tackle concerns relating to the ageing population and the shortfall in pension savings. Although the Government is removing the DRA, it will still be possible for individual employers to operate a compulsory retirement age, provided that they can objectively justify it. Examples could include air traffic controllers and police officers. Employment Relations Minister Edward Davey said that it would still be possible for employers to force people to retire if they were no longer up to the job.

"As of now, you are still able under the Employment Rights Act 1996 to fairly dismiss someone if you go though the proper processes – and one of the reasons you can dismiss someone fairly includes capability."

The change means that:

• From 6 April 2011, employers will not be able to issue any notifications for compulsory retirement using the DRA procedure.
• Between 6 April and 1 October, only people who were notified before 6 April, and whose retirement date is before 1 October can be compulsorily retired using the DRA.
• After 1 October, employers will not be able to use the DRA to compulsorily retire employees. In order to help employers adapt to the change, the government has worked with ACAS to publish