The default retirement age (65 for many organisations) is being phased out with Regulations coming into force from 6th April 2011. 

This effectively means that employers can no longer compulsory retire employees because they reach a particular age with effect from 1st October 2011, and as employers are required to provide six months’ notice to retire an employee, in practice, employers will no longer be able to compulsorily retire employees using the default retirement age from 6 April.

Retiring employees after this date will have to be objectively justified, and employers will need clear evidence to defend this action if challenged.   If this is a situation you find yourself in, then it is very important to seek professional advice from an employment law specialist.

As a result of these new Regulation, HR Teams across the country will no longer write to employees regarding a normal retirement date, and the onus will be on employees to inform Human Resources and their Managers of when they wish to retire.

 In order to help facilitate the transition from employment to retirement, discussions will need to be held by managers with employees in order to plan for any changes to an employee’s plans that may affect the organisation.

In order to ensure that all employees are treated equally with regards to their age, managers are advised to use the Performance Development Review process as an opportunity to discuss the aims and aspirations of each employee.

This is key as it give managers the opportunity to explain to employees that they are now required to provide adequate notice of their future retirement plans in light of the changes to legislation.

It is important that organisations ensure their current policies and practices are amended in line with changes to employment law.