Category: Employment Law, Taxation and Legislation for Contractors

There should be no default retirement age in the UK, one charity has told the government.

According to a poll by Age UK, nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of Brits want ministers to abolish forced retirement immediately.

In principle, seven out of ten people think employers should not be allowed to force people to retire when they hit a certain age.

The charity said that tens of thousands of workers were forced to retire last year because of the current legislation, which caused an estimated loss of £3.5 billion in economic output.

Charity director, Michelle Mitchell, said the law is "hugely unpopular" and "well past its sell-by-date".

"Forcing people in later life out of the labour market when they want to work, save for their pensions and pay taxes is nonsense," she commented.

Ms Mitchell called on the chancellor to signal a clear commitment to reforming retirement rules in his emergency Budget today (Tuesday, June 22nd).

Posted by Daniel Frost