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Peers Told - You're Fired!

1 December 2008

Peers Told - You're Fired!
The Employers Forum On Age Moves Campaign Against Forced Retirement On To Target Peers Over 65

The ongoing campaign by The Employers' Forum on Age (EFA) to urge employers and politicians to take a different approach to retirement stepped up a gear last month as it became the turn of members of the House of Lords who are 65 and over to receive notice of their retirement date.

The EFA sent spoof retirement letters (similar to the standard notice of retirement letter that thousands of workers in the UK receive when they reach 65 - regardless of whether they wish to retire or not) to all Peers who are approaching or over 65 to notify them that they would need to retire in nine months time. There are 510 peers over the age of 65 who, if governed by current employment rules, could be excluded from Parliament - depriving the House of Lords of decades of experience, knowledge and wisdom.

Catharine Pusey, Director at The Employers Forum on Age: "We are determined to keep highlighting the UK's outdated retirement rules. We sent our spoof retirement letter to peers to raise awareness of this issue amongst a workforce whose members are lucky to have the freedom to choose when to retire. Every year tens of thousands of employees who don't have that freedom receive letters like this giving them just nine months' notice that they will be out of work.

"We are campaigning to remove the discrimination that leaves many willing and able workers over 65 out of employment and believe that it is crucial that the House of Lords play a role in this matter. We have asked the peers to support our campaign and to raise a short debate in the Lords, to which we have received some very positive feedback.

Baroness Greengross comments: "These 'retirement notices' have really woken parliamentarians up to the injustice of a default retirement age. Hundreds of parliamentarians who have passed the statutory retirement age make vital contributions - why is there one rule for us, and another for the rest of the country? This discriminatory practice forces thousands of people out of work every year."

Earlier this summer The EFA sent the same spoof retirement letters to all MPs who were approaching or over 65 years of age. The letters provoked some MPs to write strong letters of support for the EFA campaign to end the default retirement age. These included David Winnick MP, Frank Cook MP, Austin Mitchell MP and Paul Flynn, MP - who said that this was an issue regularly raised by his constituents.

Catharine concludes, "The EFA is working with a growing number of employers who are operating very successfully without a fixed retirement age and is encouraging other members to follow suit. The EFA believes that the Government should commit now to removing the default retirement in 2011, and not simply to a review, to provide clarity for employers and employees and give employers several years to prepare. We firmly believe that it is inevitable that the default retirement age (DRA) will be removed altogether, whatever the outcome of the Heyday challenge."

- End -

For further information please contact:

The Employers Forum on Age
Catharine Pusey: 0207 785 6556 - catharine.pusey@efa.org.uk
Beth Vaughan: 020 7785 6539 - beth.vaughan@efa.org.uk

Or

Lansons Communications
Helen Thomson: 0207 294 3604 - helent@lansons.com
Livia Murphy: 0207 294 3693 - liviam@lansons.com

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