Last Friday the 5th of October marked the final day that the Default Retirement Age (DRA) can operate as employers will no longer be able to force workers to retire following the abolition of the DRA last year.
Prior to April 2011, employers had to give staff between six and 12 months’ notice of intention to make them retire, with an additional six months possible extension if they were compelling them to retire under the rules.
Charity Director General of Age UK, Michelle Mitchell, said:
“We hope that now it is illegal to force someone out of their job simply because they are 65 or over, it will make employers look beyond their staff’s date of birth, objectively assess their skills and contributions and trigger a more positive and realistic attitude to older people.”
Age UK added that the end of the DRA marks a “major milestone in the fight against age discrimination”.
Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s group Saga, which had campaigned for the law change, said:
“The move was long overdue and hopefully the workplace is now much more welcoming to older workers. This change does not mean anyone has to be forced to work longer. But it does mean that employers cannot force people to stop, if they are perfectly good at their jobs and willing and able to work.”
I am British but have been living in Austria for 20 years where we have a flourishing community of early retirees. For just about any medical impediment ranging from a broken toe nail, it seems like a doctor will produce a certificate enabling someone to file for early retirement. In certain branches such as the State railway, in particular, train drivers were able to retire in their 40’s with valid reason that thier work was of a heavy nature and therefore they were physically challenged well before the rest of the work force. This ridiculous rule dates back to the steam train era when evidently they had to continually shovel coal to keep the train moving. Civil servants also enjoy early retirement in their 50’s (probably due to the strain of having to write so much). We have a huge deficit in the pension funding and there have been moves made to reduce early retirement and clamp down, but I still see it in happening in our circle of acquaintances. My husband will retire at the age of 65 even with a couple of serious health issues to deal with (mainly type 1 diabetes which he has had for 35 years) and he is never off sick from work. His old school friends just don’t understand him at all as he could have used his illness years ago to retire early. There is just a totally different cultural attitude towards the retirement age. Our friends look at me in amazement when I relate the latest legislation in the U.K. On the positive side the retirees keep the vineyards and patisseries in business so at least some economic effect!