XpertHR conference on managing retirement

The XpertHR conference on Managing retirement will explore the issues affecting employers as a result of the abolition of the default retirement age and transferable lessons from those who operate without a compulsory age. 

To help you make the most of the conference, we highlight just some of the material on this subject available on XpertHR. 

 

Training to get the most out of XpertHR

Are you getting the most out of XpertHR? If not, we can provide training to help you understand XpertHR’s content, functions and capabilities. Training sessions can be tailored to suit your specific needs and there are a number of ways in which we provide this service:

  • One to one (via telephone)
  • A conference call for your team
  • Group presentations
  • Attending HR meetings

To request training for yourself or a colleague please email: training@xperthr.co.uk. 

 

Pre-retirement support

How pre-retirement courses can ease employee departures This article outlines how pre-retirement courses can help ease the retirement process and provide a valuable employee benefit. 

Longstanding pre-retirement course brings rewards at NERC A retirement planning course offered by the Natural Environment Research Council is highly valued by employees, and has helped to encourage take-up of partial retirement. 

BT's planning for retirement course guides employees through pension maze A half-day pre-retirement course offered by BT to employees from the age of 50 has helped shift attitudes towards retirement among participants. 

2010 retirement procedures survey: employers want to retain retirement age Research on the default age finds that three-quarters of employers surveyed have retained a contractual retirement age and the same number do not wish to see it abolished or raised above 65. 

 

Employment law manual: retirement

The XpertHR employment law manual provides comprehensive and up-to-date guidance on the law on retirement and alerts you to forthcoming changes to the law, via the Future developments subsection, a feature of all the employment law manual sections. The manual also sets out the law relating to age discrimination and justification. 

 

Default retirement age

Default retirement age to be abolished The XpertHR forthcoming law section summarises how the abolition of the default retirement age will be implemented and how its abolition will impact employers. It also rounds up other resources on XpertHR on this topic. 

Default retirement age proposals: 10 things employers need to know Default retirement age proposals: 10 things employers need to know by Stephen Simpson. The abolition of the default retirement age is going to have a huge impact on how employers operate their businesses. The Government has already committed to removing the default retirement age, which allows employers to require employees to retire at the age of 65 or over provided that the statutory retirement procedure is followed. 

Abolition of the default retirement age: overview Elizabeth Stevens of Steeles (Law) LLP begins a series of articles on the abolition of the default retirement age with an overview. The default retirement age allows employers to force employees to retire at the age of 65, provided that they follow a statutory procedure. The Government has confirmed its plans to abolish the default retirement age, from 1 October 2011. 

Outlook video: abolition of the default retirement age XpertHR's head of content Jo Stubbs and group editor David Shepherd discuss the Government's proposals on retirement, under which, from 6 April 2011, employers will no longer be able to rely on the default retirement age to maintain a compulsory retirement age for their workforce. 

Remember, if you come across an article on XpertHR that you want to draw to the attention of a colleague, every article has a link to the right of the screen enabling you to "email this item to a colleague". Click on the link, enter the email address of your colleague, and press send. Your colleague will receive the document in full, making this an ideal tool when delegating work. Alternatively, you can email the article to yourself as a reminder. 

 

Retirement frequently asked questions

XpertHR's FAQs section provides answers to commonly asked questions on a wide range of topics. Questions on retirement include:

We welcome suggestions for new FAQs from our subscribers, so if there's a question that you would like to see answered on the site, use the Suggest tab in the FAQs section to submit your idea. 

However, if you have a particular query and wish to receive an individual response to it within a short timeframe, you should make use of the Legal Advice section of the site (within Employment Law in the left-hand toolbar). You can telephone or email your question to be answered by a specialist employment lawyer. 

 

Recent case law

Keep up with the latest developments in employment case law and check key legal precedents. Recently reported retirement cases include:

EAT doubts current orthodoxy that cost alone cannot justify age discrimination
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has questioned the current approach adopted by tribunals that an employer cannot justify age discrimination on the ground of cost alone. 

Retirement age of 55 for BA employees not discriminatory
The EAT held that cost alone will not justify the imposition of a discriminatory provision, criterion or practice, but may be one of the factors taken into account in the balancing exercise. 

For up-to-the-minute news on key cases that have not yet been reported elsewhere on XpertHR, see the XpertHR stop press. 

 

Model policies and documents

The XpertHR policies and documents section provides a range of documents relevant to retirement:

 

Retirement case studies

Find out through XpertHR case studies how other organisations are supporting people with disabilities and promoting equal treatment for them. Recent case studies look at:

 

Daily updates on retirement

You can receive email updates every time new articles about disability are published on XpertHR. 

Click on the My XpertHR link on the homepage and select the "Preferences" tab. Simply follow the instructions to set your update preferences and make sure that you're kept informed of all the latest information we publish on your chosen topics. Select "retirement" to ensure that you're kept up to date with developments relating to retirement.