Do you have a staff member who you’d like to retire?  Do your job adverts discriminate against older applicants?  Have your employment policies been updated for the abolition of the Default Retirement Age?

Following the abolition of the Default Retirement Age (“DRA”) in April 2011 it is no longer straightforward to retire a member of staff on reaching 65.  There has always been a risk of inadvertent Age Discrimination when dealing with older employees but this risk is now even greater.

Since the revised legislation came into force, there has been a small amount of case law clarifying when retirement might be justified, but it is still crucial that every case is considered on it’s own facts and merits.  Unless you can completely justify a retirement age in an employment tribunal – a high risk strategy – then the only options are redundancy or dismissal on performance grounds as with any other employee.

At Backhouse Solicitors we are experts in age discrimination law.  We can update your policies and procedures to make sure you are fully compliant with the rules and we can help you if need to dismiss an employee, regardless of their age.  If you are preparing job adverts or specifications we can make sure they aren’t discriminatory so you don’t leave yourself open to employment claims.  If you are making redundancies we will review your selection criteria and make sure they aren’t age discriminatory.

The benefits for your business:

  • Age discrimination claims can be very expensive – our advice could save you a lot of money

Don’t make an expensive mistake – contact us to speak to one of our expert employment law solicitors.

Tel:          01245 893400
Email:     info@backhouse-solicitors.co.uk
Visit:       17 Duke Street, Chelmsford, CM1 1JU
Or send us a message through the Contact Us page on this website.