Default retirement age to be axed

Despite opposition from employer organisations, the compulsory default retirement age (DRA) of 65 is to be phased out this year, the coalition government has confirmed.

The abolition of the DRA means that employers will no longer be able to dismiss staff just because they have reached the age of 65. The change will be phased in between April and October this year.

Between 6 April and 1 October, only those people who were told before 6 April, and who are due to retire before 1 October, can be compulsorily retired using the DRA. After 1 October, employers will not be able to use the DRA to force staff to retire.

However, individual employers will still be able to operate a compulsory retirement age “provided that they can objectively justify it”.

Labour Force Survey figures for the 3rd quarter of 2010 show there are already 850,000 people over the age of 65 in work.

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