Retirement

The introduction of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 in 2006 gives everyone the right to work until they are 65.

If you set an earlier retirement age, you must be able to justify your reasons for doing so. However, guidance relating to the regulations has made it clear that a retirement age below 65 will be almost impossible to justify in most cases.

The regulations also give your employees the right to ask if they can carry on working after 65. You do not have to agree but you must consider the request.

Retiring an employee at 65 or over is not unlawful age discrimination but it will be an unfair dismissal if the retirement dismissal procedures are not followed. For example, you must give an employee at least six months’ notice of retirement and up to a maximum of a year.

We can advise on all aspects of retirement dismissals and assist you in putting in place a clear policy on retirement and procedures for dealing with requests by your employees not to retire.

For more information on how we can help you, please contact us on
01702 339222 or at employer@btmk.co.uk