The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations were introduced in 2006 to prohibit discrimination in employment based on age. This was largely uncontroversial except for the introduction of a national default retirement age (DRA). Previously, an employer could set its own contractual retirement age.
The DRA currently enables an employer to compulsorily retire an employee at 65 without the risk of an unfair dismissal or age discrimination claim, provided a formal retirement procedure (the Procedure) is followed.
Requiring workers to retire at 65, when they could still make a significant contribution to the workplace and the economy, has been criticised. The Government has reviewed the law relating to retirement, proposing to abolish not only the DRA, but also the Procedure.
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