Overview

This line manager briefing looks at the law and best practice on retirement. It looks in particular at the statutory retirement procedure introduced by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The briefing includes information on retirement ages, employers' duty to notify employees of their forthcoming retirement and the right for employees to request to continue working. 

It should be noted that the rights and duties discussed in this briefing are the minimum statutory rights and duties. Individual employers may offer their employees contractual entitlements over and above the minimum statutory rights. Employees' contractual terms may therefore be the source of further rights and duties that line managers will be required to take into account.

This briefing contains information on:

1. Impact of the age discrimination legislation
   • compulsory retirement
   • retirement or redundancy?
   • voluntary retirement
2. Retirement age
   • retirement ages and sex discrimination
   • pension age
   • dismissal for reasons other than retirement
3. The duty to notify
4. The right to request to continue working
   • submission of a request
   • timing of the request
   • duty to consider the employee's request
   • holding the meeting
   • refusing a request to continue working
   • appeals
   • agreeing to a request
   • the implications of agreeing to requests to continue working
5. The importance of the procedures
   • the effect of complying fully with the procedures
   • the effect of not complying fully with the procedures
6. Test yourself

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