Government moves to clarify default retirement age legislation

Posted 03/03/2011

The government has moved to close an employment law loophole surrounding the implementation of the removal of the default retirement age (DRA).

Previously, employers would not have been able to retire someone who turned 65 before April 6th 2011, but the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has now said that it is amending details on age limits.

Under the new section of the legislation, employers will be able to retire someone who is 65 – or whatever the DRA is within the individual company – at any time on or before September 30th this year, as long as they are notified by April 5th.

The government said the original confusion was down to an error in the draft of the DRA documents.

This comes after the Office for National Statistics revealed that in the final quarter of 2010, there were 270,000 over-65s in full-time employment.

It said this number has increased as a result of the recession, with many workers choosing to stay in jobs where they had a long service record.