Employment law change on retirement age ‘would be beneficial’

Posted 02/02/2010

A professional industry body has called on the government to amend employment law relating to the retirement age in order to benefit workers and businesses.

The Institute of Directors (IoD) has raised concerns that the current default retirement age is no longer relevant, due to the longer life expectancy most people now enjoy.

As a result, it suggested that many over-60s are being forced out of work prematurely, which means that companies are also losing out on capable, experienced staff unnecessarily.

Miles Templeman, director general of the IoD, therefore called for the default retirement age to be increased to 68, allowing people to work longer while helping companies to retain flexibility over managing their workforce.

He added: “It’s important that the UK’s retirement system evolves in line with modern working practices.”

This comes after Hargreaves Lansdown recommended a review of the retirement age last week, expressing concern that current employment law is preventing capable older people from finding work following redundancy.