Government Confirms Abolition of Default Retirement Age
The Government has confirmed that it will definitely phase out the Default Retirement Age (DRA) later this year. The confirmation accompanies the Government’s Written Response to its recent consultation on its proposal to abolish the DRA of 65 years of age. New guidance from Acas has been published to help businesses adapt to the removal of the DRA.
Following consultation, the Government has confirmed that the Default Retirement Age is to be phased out between 6 April and 1 October 2011. The change means that: (i) from 6 April 2011, employers will not be able to issue any notifications for compulsory retirement using the DRA procedure; (ii) between 6 April and 30 September 2011, only people who were notified before 6 April, and whose retirement date is before 1 October can be compulsorily retired using the DRA; and (iii) from 1 October, employers will not be able to use the DRA to compulsorily retire employees.
The Government has confirmed that although it is removing the DRA, it will still be possible for individual employers to operate a compulsory retirement age, provided that they can avoid a claim of direct age discrimination by objectively justifying the specific age in question as being a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
To help employers adapt to the change, the Government has worked with Acas to develop new comprehensive Guidance and has provided further background information and research together with updated DWP information for employers on workforce management without a fixed retirement age, which is available at Business Link – Managing without a fixed retirement age.
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