Retirement checklist - transitional provisions

1. On 6 April 2011, the statutory default retirement age of 65 was abolished.  Consequently, any retirement dismissal on or after 6 April 2011 (and not falling within the transitional provisions below) will constitute direct age discrimination, unless retirement at that age can be objectively justified.  Moreover, retirement is no longer a fair statutory reason for dismissal, meaning employers have to show that the dismissal of an older worker is for one of the five potentially fair reasons for dismissal and that a fair dismissal procedure was followed. 

In the meantime, for employees aged 65 or over, on or before 30 September 2011, the transitional provisions for retirement apply so long as notification of retirement was served on the employee, in accordance with the statutory procedure, on or before 5 April 2011.