A topic that appeared regularly on this blog a few years ago was the Abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA). This change was a significant step by the Coalition Government, and came into full force on the 1st October 2011. Since that date it has been impossible for most employers to force an employee to retire (or at least leave their employment) on age grounds alone.

So an important step. And those that have followed this particular thread will be aware that the abolition of the DRA had some serious implications for future workforce demographics, succession planning, and indeed employee benefits provision.

Yet it was difficult to quantify in 2011 just what the impact of this legislation change would be. For instance, would more employees continue to work as a direct result of this decision? As is always the case it takes the benefit of hindsight to provide the evidence, and this little item from Corporate Adviser Magazine caught my eye as providing exactly that: surge in older workers

As the article (which is based on ONS figures) suggests, there has already been a tangible increase in older workers and it seems likely that this at least partially linked to the DRA decision. And although we don’t have any evidence yet to support this, I suspect another factor in this change will be the lack of adequate pension savings for so many older employees as they approach age 65. Put simply, if an employee does not have enough savings to provide for a comfortable retirement income, they are unlikely to make the decision to retire. This is one of the items that we are seeking to quantify in our recently launched retirement guidance survey (which is targeted at individuals around retirement age). For more information on this please follow this link: Retirement Guidance Survey

There are many other facets to the abolition of the DRA and the increase of older workers which are of importance to this blog and our employer followers. It is therefore a topic I will return to when time allows, and also a subject that we will be looking in greater details at our July events at London Zoo London Zoo Event and Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Event (follow the links for more details and how to reserve a place).

Best regards

Steve