Responding to comments made by the CBI that the Government needs to rethink how it plans to scrap the Default Retirement Age, Chris Ball – Chief Executive of TAEN – The Age and Employment Network and Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director of Age UK, say:
“The CBI’s attempt to reopen the issue of the Default Retirement Age is unhelpful and backward-looking. The simple fact is that this is a wasteful provision that forces people to stop working when they are ready and able to continue. Moreover, most employers have shown that they don’t really need it.
“The CBI’s concerns about the diminishing work capacity of people doing heavy manual work is sometimes valid but it is a mistake to imagine that the only answer is in compelling people to leave the workplace when there are other jobs they could well do. Very often, they are the people who need to work longer because they don’t have sufficient savings or pension arrangements.
“It is particularly important that employers and Government address this challenge of supporting people to work longer in practical ways, by encouraging retraining and redirecting careers, for example. The sensible employer who values the skills and talents of older workers will be looking for ways of keeping these employees by making adjustments to their work and working conditions.
“Keeping an unfair and outdated legislation in place for one more year is not the answer; swift action by the Government to provide businesses with the support they need is. There are many countries which manage perfectly well without a legal right to retire people, so why is the UK different?”
