Government told to scrap default retirement age

Posted 04/08/2009

Scrapping the formal retirement age could help people avoid becoming victims of age discrimination, experts have stated.

According to the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), many company bosses are breaching employment law by discriminating on the basis of a person’s age.

As a result, the organisation believes that removing the default retirement age would “send a really strong signal” that this is not acceptable.

Rachel Krys, director of EFA, commented: “People should be allowed to make their own decisions about when they work and when they retire.”

She said that if employers want to terminate a member of staff’s contract, it should be solely on the basis of whether they are able to do the job or not, rather than because they have reached an “arbitrary” age barrier.

The comments come after the Work and Pensions Select Committee called for the retirement age to be scrapped, as it is discriminatory and unnecessary.