Remove the current age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.
In addition, the regulations also introduced:
- A right for employees to request working beyond retirement age and a duty on employers to consider that request
- A new requirement for employers to give at least six months notice to employees about their intended retirement date, so that individuals can plan better for retirement, and be confident that “retirement” is not being used as cover for unfair dismissal.
The regulations in practice
An employer can still ask for an employee’s date of birth on an application form, but this could lead to discrimination taking place. It is advised that employers therefore remove this question from application forms and include it in a diversity monitoring form to be retained by HR/personnel. It is also advised that unnecessary information about periods and dates are removed from an application form.
Following the introduction of the Act, age should be included in an employers equality policy and all forms of discrimination and harassment should be added to disciplinary rules.
Ensure that all employees are aware, through training, notice boards, circulars, contracts of employment, etc, that it is not only unacceptable to discriminate, harass or victimize someone on the grounds of age, it is also unlawful. Make it clear that this behaviour will be not tolerated.
Employees should be aware of what they can do if they believe they have been discriminated against or harassed. This should be included in the employer’s grievance procedure (the Employment Act of 2002 requires all employers, however large or small, to have both a disciplinary and a grievance procedure.)
Employees’ policies should be checked for retirement and redundancy. Upper age limits on unfair dismissal claims and redundancy payment will be removed. There will be a default retirement age of 65, making compulsory retirement below 65 unlawful unless objectively justified.
Employers should also give serious consideration to the benefits of flexible working. All employees have the right to request to work beyond 65 or any other retirement age set by the organization. An employer has a duty to consider such requests.
