Starting with a review that has already begun, the government is giving consideration to abandoning the national default retirement age (NDRA). This would mean that employers will no longer be able to set a mandatory retirement age of 65 and above, or refuse to employ someone who is within six months of that age.
Retirement age is a complicated issue, with important links to pension reform and the impacts of an ageing population. It is also is set to become an even hotter topic as the ‘baby boom’ generation starts to reach retirement age. To me, it makes no sense to decide whether or not someone should be allowed to carry on working based solely on their age. Some people at 65 are more than capable of continuing in a demanding job, others may be less able. Some older workers will almost certainly be much more capable than others in their 40s!
One issue that removing the compulsory retirement age raises is the possibility that organisations will need to find ways of dealing with older people who are feeling the effects of their age and underperforming – but wish to carry on working. One obvious solution is to “performance manage” them out of the organisation. I expect that may be necessary in a very small number of cases, but generally can’t help feeling that employers should work collaboratively with their older workers and find ways of working that maximise the benefit to the organisation and enable people to ease their way into full-time retirement.
After all, we have known for some time that a sharp transition from work to non-work can be very damaging and leave people feeling lost in their retirement. My feeling is that flexibility about duties, working hours and eventual retirement age on the part of employers and employees will pay off for everyone in the long run. It provides a platform to get the best of older employees for the organisation, but also to work with them to find the best route into retirement.
Until the results of the review are released (and possibly beyond that time, depending on the outcome) we will have to hope that employers are able to exercise common sense, discretion and fairness when it comes to dealing with retirement age workers.
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