Workers celebrating 65th birthday tomorrow have an extra reason to cheer

Anyone who turns 65 after today (Friday) will no longer lose their job simply because of their age, the TUC says ahead of the end of the UK's default retirement age (DRA) tomorrow. Under the DRA, which the government began phasing out from April this year, employers have been able to retire people on their 65th birthday for no other reason than their age. But for anyone who turns 65 after today, or who is under 65 but hasn't been given six months notice, employers now have to justify why they want to retire a member of staff.
The TUC has long considered the DRA to be an unfair anachronism in modern workplaces as staff, and most good employers, would like a more flexible approach to retirement.
While many people do not want to work beyond 65 or are unable to because of the nature of their work, abolishing the default retirement age will help people retire at a time that suits both them and their employer, says the TUC.
The growing number of people working past 65 shows that many people are keen to stay in work and have a lot to offer employers, says the TUC. However, many are forced to continue working due to poor pay and lack of a decent pension, illustrating the urgent need for better pension provision in the private sector.
The TUC and the Charted Institute for Personal and Development (CIPD) have recently published guidance for staff and employers on managing age in the workplace, which is available at www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-19586-f0.cfm. The guide offers best practice guidance on working without a retirement age.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "After years of campaigning, it's great to see the end of the default retirement age.
"As of tomorrow, anyone celebrating their 65th birthday can do so knowing they cannot get dismissed from their job simply because of their age. This should give more workers the opportunity to retire at their own pace, rather than having it imposed on them by a short-sighted employer.
"Not everyone wants to work beyond 65, and many have no choice but to work on, but many older people still have a lot to contribute - and employers can really benefit from the wealth of their experience."
CIPD Diversity Adviser Dianah Worman said: "The removal of the default retirement age has been long heralded. Its removal opens up new opportunities to employers and employees and is to be welcomed, not feared.
"Good talent management helps businesses to achieve good performance and is vital in today's highly competitive and turbulent times. Many organisations already operate successfully without a compulsory retirement age.
"Those that have not yet tackled the way they manage retirement need to catch up with leading good practice to make sure that they too have a competitive employment edge or they could risk falling seriously behind more innovative employers in the 'war for talent'. CIPD research continues to show this phenomenon prevails despite the difficult economic climate."

Over-50s and retired faring better than young people in jobs market

The last 20 years have seen a significant increase in the proportion of over-50s and people over retirement age in employment, the TUC reveals today (Wednesday).
A new TUC analysis - published to coincide with the latest unemployment figures, which will be issued later this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - finds that the jobs market has changed significantly since 1992.
Age and Gender: What has changed in the labour market in recent years finds that 56.5 per cent of people aged between 50 and 64 were in work in April 1992. This rose to 64.9 per cent by December 2010.
Over the same period, the proportion of those aged over 64 in work rose from 5.5 to 9 per cent. This is a significant increase for retirement age workers, who now make up a bigger share of the total working population.
The report also reveals that young people have become less likely to be in employment over the same period - mainly because of the expansion of education, but also as young people have been hit hard by the recession.
In April 1992 48.8 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds were in employment, but that figure had dropped to around 23.6 per cent by December 2010. Around two in three (65.8 per cent) of 18 to 24-year-olds were working in April 1992, but this fell to around 58 per cent by the end of 2010.
The proportion of 'prime age' workers (those aged 25 to 49) has remained steady, despite the recession, according to the TUC analysis.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Older people bring a wealth of skills and experience to the workplace. The increasing number of over 65s in work shows that older workers are highly valued and that the government is absolutely right to scrap the default retirement age.
"But there is a darker side to people to working beyond their retirement. Low wages and poor pension provision, particularly in the private sector, mean that many people simply cannot afford to retire at 65. The failure of far too many employers to help staff save for their retirement is forcing these people into pensioner poverty and placing a huge cost burden on the state.
"It is a mistake to blame older workers for youth unemployment - they tend not to be doing the jobs young unemployed people might expect to get. The main reason for young people's jobs crisis is that there just aren't enough new jobs that are appropriate for young people to do being created. And of course the more people we have in work overall, the more the economy grows and the more jobs are created.
"We've seen record youth unemployment figures this year, and the government's decision to scrap the Future Jobs Fund, months before its poorly-funded replacement was due to start, has helped drive the rise in the number of young people out of work.
"Scrapping Education Maintenance Allowance and hiking university tuition fees will only further reduce the chances of young people - and with inflation rising at over twice the level of earnings, those in work are also finding it hard to make ends meet."
Further information
Age and Gender: What has changed in the labour market in recent years is available at www.tuc.org.uk/tucfiles/43/Whathaschangedinthelabourmarketinrecentyears.pdf
For reaction to today's (Wednesday) unemployment figures and further economic analysis please visit www.touchstoneblog.org.uk
For more information about the ONS please visit www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp

TUC welcomes abolition of the default retirement age

Welcoming the government’s decision today (Thursday) to abolish the default retirement age, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Cheryl Pidgeon said:
“This will stop employers from dismissing people on an arbitrary basis just because they have reached 65.
“Employees should be judged on their ability to do the job, not their age.”