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Disappointment As Equality Bill Leaves 'Radically Outdated' Retirement Rules Unscathed

27 April 2009

The publication of the long awaited Equality Bill today has been met with disappointment by leading age campaigners including the Employers Forum on Age (EFA).

Disappointment As Equality Bill Leaves ‘Radically Outdated' Retirement Rules Unscathed

The publication of the long awaited Equality Bill today has been met with disappointment by leading age campaigners including the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), as there is no sign that the Government will commit to scrapping the default retirement age before the current review date of 2011.

Catharine Pusey, Interim Chief Executive at the EFA comments, "Today, with people living longer than ever before, the current rationale for continuing to enforce a default retirement age when people reach 65 is completely archaic.  Every year thousands of people over 65 make huge contributions to the UK's economy and heritage, yet despite being capable of continuing in work, many more individuals are involuntarily retired at 65. 

"We had hoped that the civil service's decision to remove this unfair and discriminatory practice of being able to insist their employees retire at 65, would have focused the Government's mind.  It is just plain hypocritical that MPs and Peers are exempt from the DRA, and cannot be forcibly retired at a specific age.  

"These economic times create an even more pressing imperative for the Government to move faster on this issue.  Pensioners need to work now because they have seen the financial crisis drain their pension value and as Britain becomes an ageing society, with huge demographic change, we are facing an even greater pensions' crisis which will affect all of us." 

In the current economic climate, retaining an experienced workforce is essential to employers.  The EFA has submitted evidence to the Government's review of the default retirement age, demonstrating that many employers are expecting the number of requests to work beyond 65 to keep rising.

Catharine continues, "Businesses need to develop workplaces that are flexible and function in the long term - removing the default retirement age will help them do this by changing an outdated culture of 65 years old being a reasonable cut off time." 

The EFA works with a number of employers, including B&Q, Hertfordshire County Council and Asda, who report that operating without the default retirement age has resulted in significant business benefits; filling skills gaps, keeping valuable members of their workforce, and having a better connection with their diverse customer base. 

Luckily for us there are many pioneers who did their best work after 65...

  • Winston Churchill announced the end of World War Two at 70. 
  • Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first black President at 77.
  • Clement Attlee oversaw the creation of the NHS and he liberated many colonised countries between ages 62 and 68.
  • Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for Literature at 88, and wrote 21 works after the age 65.
  • Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace prize at 69.
  • At 82 Oliver Smithies was one of the winners of a Nobel prize for his pioneering work in gene therapy.
  • Vivienne Westwood won British Fashion Designer of the Year at 65.
  • Harland Sanders was 65, with little more than a $105 Social Security payment, when he started Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Fortunately for them they weren't forced to retire at 65.  The EFA has been campaigning for the removal of the default retirement age: for further information please click here.


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For further information please contact:

The Employers Forum on Age
Beth Vaughan   0207 785 6539    beth.vaughan@efa.org.uk
Catharine Pusey  0207 785 6556   catharine.pusey@efa.org.uk

Or

Lansons Communications
Livia Murphy   0207 566 9718   liviam@lansons.com
Helen Thomson  0207 294 3604   helent@lansons.com

 

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