Retiring Regulations that Reject Older Employees

19 May 2012

Pottering in the garden, long walks with the dog and playing with the grandchildren - these are often top of the list when people are asked what they most look forward to about retiring.

However, until recently, the one thing rarely taken into account was when people wanted to retire, especially since 2006 saw the introduction of a default retirement age. Its main aim was to protect workers from being forced out of work early - but it failed to account for people who wanted to continue working beyond the age of 65.   

Following its introduction there have been countless debates over the fairness of the default retirement age and this month saw the Government rule in favour of employees as it abolished this regulation.

New laws which will allow older people to continue in their jobs no matter their age are now being phased in and will come into force from 1 October 2011.

In reality, many people now want to work later in life and this should be encouraged where possible - particularly in order to help compensate for the pension shortfall and to accommodate our increasingly ageing population.

As people move closer to their mid-sixties they can start to worry about becoming less active - both mentally and physically - plus there are concerns over whether they can actually afford to stop working.

Most jobs aren't as physically demanding as they once were and people are living longer, healthier lives so the majority are able to continue working past their 65th birthday - this should be celebrated rather than forcing people to retire when they are still perfectly competent to remain in their positions.

Rather than automatically showing the over 65s the door employers will now have to focus more on performance management. Bosses will have to show that employees are no longer in a position to complete the tasks they are assigned to through their contract of employment.

There will be some situations where it would be unsuitable for over 65s to remain in certain roles - the police, air traffic controllers and labour-intensive jobs have all been used as examples in the press - and where this is the case employers will have to objectively justify the grounds for retirement.

The society which we are living is an aging one, particularly in Northumberland. Nationally it is estimated that in 20 years there will be less than three people working for every one person who is retired.

In order to be able to support our older generations in years to come we need to be supporting those who are now approaching the traditional retirement age to carry on in employment if they wish to, and this change in the law should hopefully allow us to do so.

Northumberland residents can contact DAWN Advice for free support and legal advice on a range issues, including debt and employment law, through the county's advice line on 0844 4111 309.