Retirement age to be Abolished

One of the more radical changes to Employment Law brought about by the “Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 is the abolition of the default retirement age of 65.

Currently it is necessary for an Employer to serve a notice on their employee prior to the retirement age of 65. This notice must be in writing and must be given not more than 12 months but not less than 6 months prior to the proposed date of retirement.

However, under the new provisions of the Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 from 6 April 2011 it will no longer be possible to issue notifications of retirement and it will no longer be a fair reason for dismissal.

However, where notifications have already been issued they can remain effective as long as the employee’s retirement is due to take place before 1 October 2011.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that there is still some debate as to the last date when an employee can be compulsorily retired under the old law.
However, it is clear that the last day for notices to be given is 5 April 2011.

if you have employees who approaching age 65 within the next 12 months and you would be considering serving the required notice to terminate their employment when they reach age 65; you should seek legal advice immediately to ascertain if you are able to give them the required notice.

The important deadline for employers to serve notice of intention to retire is on or before 5 April 2011 which is only a couple of short weeks away.