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Default Retirement Age

Call for evidence to feed into the Government's review of the default retirement age

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, which came into force on 1 October 2006, provide for a default retirement age of 65 that employers can rely on if they wish. The regulations make earlier retirement ages unlawful unless employers can objectively justify them. The regulations also introduced a new statutory right for individuals to request postponement of retirement beyond the age of 65 – requests which the employer must consider.

The Government announced in its strategy for our ageing society – Building a Society for All Ages – that it would bring forward a planned review of the default retirement age from 2011 to 2010. The review will be conducted jointly by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and will consider whether the default retirement age of 65 remains appropriate and necessary. In conducting the review, it will be necessary to look at many issues including the needs of business and individuals in the prevailing economic climate.

The Government has therefore commissioned a major research project – the Survey of Employers’ Policies, Practices and Preferences relating to age (SEPPP) – which will provide an insight into employers’ age based practices, in particular the use of the default retirement age. However, we also want to take into account the broadest possible range of evidence to inform the review. We are therefore calling for all stakeholders and interested individuals to now submit their evidence. The Government is looking for evidence including in, but not limited to, the following broad areas:

• the operation of the default retirement age in practice
• the reasons that businesses use mandatory retirement ages
• the impacts (positive and negative) on businesses, individuals, and the economy, of raising or removing the default retirement age
• the experience of businesses operating without a default retirement age
• how could any costs of raising or removing the DRA be mitigated and benefits realised?

Submissions are requested by 1 February 2010 and should be emailed to draevidence@bis.gsi.gov.uk and/or posted to DRA Evidence, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, V497, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.

Press release: Minister's call for evidence on the default retirement age (28 October 2009)

Building a society for all ages - Building Britain's future website