The Government confirmed at the beginning of this year that the DRA will be phased out during 2011. In short this means that employers will no longer be allowed to dismiss staff because they have reached the age of 65.
A few points to consider:
- Between 6th April 2011 and the 1st October 2011, only those who have been told before the 6th April and are due to retire before the 1st October, can be compulsorily retired using the DRA.
- After the 1st October 2011, employers will not be able to use the DRA to force employees to retire.
- Employers can still operate a compulsory retirement age “provided that they can objectively justify it”.
There is a large amount of uncertainty surrounding this new piece of legislation, however, the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) have worked in conjunction with ACAS, the HR conciliation service and have provided comprehensive guidance for companies on the removal of the DRA.
Please see the PDF for the ACAS and BIS guidance document.
