Allowing people to work beyond the age of 65 lifts a weight off employers’ shoulders and forces line managers to do a better job, a report has claimed.
The End of the Line for Retirement Ages found that employers who chose to operate without a fixed retirement age were overwhelmingly pleased with their decision.
The report was published by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) to help HR professionals convince board members of the business case for scrapping the retirement age.
Employers benefit from not having to spend on the retirement process; not having to ensure line manager consistency on retirement; and the lower risk of legal challenge, according to the report. Employers also found that removing the retirement age focused line managers on dealing with poor performers.
“Once employers got the message across to employees that this wasn’t removing the right to retire or collect a pension the hardest job was done,” said an EFA spokeswoman.
“All members have talked about the need for a robust performance management system to ensure people are able to do the job [after age 65], but agree that this is vital at all stages.”
Meanwhile, the EFA is keeping “a close eye” on the first high-profile age claim to reach the courts.
Peter Bloxham, former head of restructuring at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has been giving evidence at the London Central Employment Tribunal on a claim related to the City law firm’s pension scheme.
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“It will be very interesting to see how this will affect people in general,” said the EFA spokeswoman.
A decision is not expected for two to four weeks.
