13 January 2011 Last updated at 08:45Ministers confirm end of default retirement age
The CBI had called for the change to be delayed for a year
The Default Retirement Age (DRA) is to be phased out this year, the government has confirmed.
It means employers will no longer be allowed to dismiss staff just because they have reached the age of 65.
The Department for Business said that as well as benefiting individuals, "the freedom to work for longer will provide a boost to the UK economy".
Employers had called for the changes to be delayed for a year to allow greater legal clarity over the plans.
The Employment Relations Minister Edward Davey told the BBC it would still be possible for employers to force people to retire if they were no longer up to the job.
"I think this [change] is really beneficial and should not be the problem some people suggest," he told the BBC.
"As of now, you are still able under the Employment Rights Act 1996 to fairly dismiss someone if you go though the proper processes - and one of the reasons you can dismiss someone fairly includes capability."
JustificationPresently, firms can use the DRA to make staff retire at 65.
Ditching the DRA was first proposed by the coalition government in July last year - largely to tackle issues around the ageing population and the shortfall in pension savings.
And it has now been confirmed following a consultation process.
The change means that from 6 April, bosses will not be able to issue any notifications for compulsory retirement using the DRA procedure.
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 DRA.
Finally, after 1 October, employers will not be able to use 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".
The Department for Business gives two examples of where this might be the case - for air traffic controllers and police officers.
It added that it had worked with conciliation service Acas to provide comprehensive guidance for companies on the removal of DRA.
'Uncertainty'Employer groups had called on the the government to delay introducing the change.
Continue reading the main story“Start Quote
End Quote Edward Davey Employment Relations MinisterThe evidence that performance and effectiveness decline after 65 is just not there”
Last month, the CBI warned that firms faced "huge uncertainty" and a greater risk of unfair dismissal claims unless there was more legal clarity over the plans.
It said that the law on unfair dismissal needed to be made simpler ahead of the scrapping of the DRA.
The group added that the ageing population and the shortfall in pension savings made it inevitable people would want to work for longer.
"However, in certain jobs, especially physically demanding ones, working beyond 65 is not going to be possible for everyone," said the CBI's deputy director general John Cridland.
Mr Davey told the BBC that such fears were exaggerated.
"Two thirds of firms at the moment do not operate a fixed retirement age," he said.
"The evidence that performance and effectiveness decline after 65 is just not there."
Unions have demanded "clear guidance" from both employers and workers to raise awareness of what protection from unfair dismissal and age discrimination older workers will have.
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Thursday 13 January 2011
BBC News - Ministers confirm end of default retirement age
via bbc.co.uk
