Retail Motor Law

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The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 introduced protection against age discrimination prior to the introduction of these regulations it was relatively easy to dismiss an employee once the employee had reached 65 as they were unable to claim unfair dismissal. However preventing ‘older people’ from being able to claim unfair dismissal is clearly contrary to the aim of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and so the law was changed and people older than 65 can now claim unfair dismissal.An employer can still fairly dismiss an employee for the purpose of retirement provided the employee has reached the default retirement age of 65.

However if you want an employee to retire at 65 you must follow a fair procedure and ensure that you:
  • give all employees the right to request to work beyond a compulsory set retirement age
  • write to employees no less than six months (but not more than 12 months) before the intended retirement date telling them they can request to work longer
  • consider all requests to work longer

Compulsory retirement below the age of 65

Compulsory retirement below 65 is unlawful, except where an employer can objectively justify it. This involves providing evidence to show that the reason is necessary and meets a genuine aim of the business.To ensure you are meeting legal requirements you should:

  • look into removing a retirement age for your staff altogether
  • ensure that your employees are aware that they can ask to work longer
  • ensure that all staff involved in managing retirement are aware of current regulations and of opportunities for keeping staff on if they wish to work longer
  • make everyone in your organisation aware of the requirement to treat everyone fairly regardless of age
For a copy of RML’s Retirement Procedure and sample letters RML members should visit www.retailmotorlaw.co.uk/ and logon using their passwords.
 
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