On 29 July the government announced its intention to abolish the default retirement age (DRA) as of October next year (2011).
Welcomed by many Equalities activists, including Age UK, this is a victory in the fight against age discrimination in the workplace, and will:
· Result in employment security for hundreds of thousands of people, enabling them to save for longer for their retirement.
· Positively impact those on low incomes
· Positively impact women who as a group tend to take career breaks or have interruptions in their careers and therefore have less opportunity to build up their retirement income, and
· Create more choices for older workers.
For employers, this may have serious implications with regards to people management including understanding new requirements, workplace succession planning, and managing an even more diverse workforce in terms of generations. Equality Works will continue to develop guidance and training in these areas and assist organisations in successful implementation of the changes.