Employment Law Newsletter January 2011

Default Retirement Age to be Abolished
As has been widely reported in the press, the Government has confirmed that it intends to abolish the default retirement age from 1st October 2011 (with phasing in beginning in April 2011).

Generally, workers will retire when they are ready to. The government says that it consider that the dismissal of older workers should be managed either by discussion or by formal performance management procedures.

An exemption will however be introduced for group risk insured benefits (for example medical insurance), where there was a concern that employers would stop offering such benefits if it became too expensive to pay the premiums due to an ageing workforce. Broadly, it will not be unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age when providing such benefits.

ACAS has published useful guidance for employers on working without the default retirement age, which can be found at http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=2976&p=0

Knight-Webb Solicitors are specialists in employment law. We pride ourselves in providing a first-rate, cost-effective and personal service to clients. We can help you to avoid the employment law pitfalls and ensure that your procedures are up-to-date, taking into account all the recent changes in the law, including those outlined in this Newsletter. Contact Sunita Knight-Webb on 020 7207 6195 or at sunita@knightwebb.com .