Topics

Retirement

Zuraida CurtisEditor's message: Since the abolition of the default retirement age, most employees are free to retire when they choose. Where a compulsory retirement age is necessary, you must be able to demonstrate that your organisation’s retirement age is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

With an ageing workforce in the UK, employers may be faced with more employees continuing to work for financial reasons. However, you need to balance valuing experience and maintaining productivity against employees becoming a financial burden and blocking opportunities for younger staff.

Some employers assist the transition to retirement by offering flexible hours and increasing wellbeing benefits. However, you should avoid making stereotypical assumptions about older workers’ abilities, performance or future intention to reduce their hours.

Zuraida Curtis, senior legal editor, employment law and compliance

New and updated

  • Type:
    International

    Global retirement and pensionable age comparative table

    Updated to include additional information on statutory retirement ages in China.  

  • Date:
    27 June 2024
    Type:
    Commentary and insights

    Retirement and the pensionable age: What does the global employer need to know?

    Whether your employees are eagerly anticipating retirement or share Friedrich Nietzsche's belief that the meaning of life lies in the continued struggle, it is important to know when they are legally entitled to retire and receive their full pension benefits. The starting point is to calculate an employee's pensionable and retirement ages - which is not always easy to do and will vary according to where they are in the world. Here we provide an overview of some important considerations.

  • Type:
    FAQs

    What should an employer do if an older employee requests to change their working pattern in preparation for retirement?

    Updated to reflect changes to the right to request flexible working in place from 6 April 2024, including a requirement to consult with the employee.

  • Date:
    11 May 2023
    Type:
    Podcasts and webinars

    Podcast: Age discrimination - tips, traps and Tribunal cases

    Age discrimination can be a tricky area for employers. In this edition of the podcast, Susie Munro, Senior Legal Editor at XpertHR, leads us on a tour of recent cases that offer examples of how things can go wrong if they are mishandled and provides some tips on avoiding typical age-related traps.

  • Type:
    Employment law cases

    Age discrimination: Employment tribunal round-up

    We look at three employment tribunal cases in which employers were held to have discriminated against employees because their age was a factor in their dismissal.

  • Type:
    Policies and procedures

    Retirement policy (compulsory retirement age)

    A model policy to set out your organisation's approach to dealing with retirement where a compulsory retirement age applies to all employees (or certain groups of employees).

  • Date:
    25 January 2022
    Type:
    Podcasts and webinars

    Podcast: Key 2022 employment cases

    We highlight key cases due to be decided in 2022 and discuss their impact on HR. These include cases on: vicarious liability, holiday pay, agency workers, compulsory retirement ages, and coronavirus-related health and safety cases. We will also be reflecting on the key decisions from last year and look forward to the case law trends likely to emerge this year.

  • Type:
    Employment law cases

    Age discrimination: Oxford University justifies compulsory retirement age for academics

    In Pitcher v Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford and another, an employment tribunal held that Oxford University's "employer-justified retirement age" for academics is a proportionate means of achieving its legitimate aims.

  • Type:
    Policies and procedures

    Retirement policy (no compulsory retirement age)

    A model retirement policy to set out your organisation's approach to dealing with retirement where there is no compulsory retirement age.

  • Type:
    Contract clauses

    Retirement contract clause

    A model clause in contracts of employment where the employer intends the employee to be subject to a compulsory retirement age.

About this topic

HR and legal information and guidance relating to retirement.