Hello Blog-viewers

No I’m not talking about the latest beauty product that professes to revitalise your skin - because you’re worth it. Nor am I talking Botox, face lifts, nips or tucks.

I’m actually talking about the vexed issue of the default retirement age and the thorny issue of working beyond 65.

A study published by the University of London on 12 June reveals interesting results including almost nine in ten workers in their early fifties believe they will have to work past their state pension age so they can have enough to live on when they retire. The survey of 10,000 people tracked throughout their lives revealed that, when asked about their retirement prospects, 70% fear not having enough to live on.

89% of those surveyed are prepared to work past the state pension age to improve their chances of a comfortable retirement.

25% strongly agreed that they would continue to do some paid work when reaching their retirement age if it meant a better standard of living, while another 47& concurred. The concerns are not limited to those with modest incomes, according to the research. More than 60% in higher professional or managerial jobs, or with a net household weekly income of more than £800, admitted to being worried about having enough to live on in retirement.

Matthew Brown of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, the author of the study, said that paying into a pension no longer appeared to ease people’s financial worries.

Personally, I think the only thing that’s served its useful time is the default retirement age - don’t you?

Dean

Did you know the expression having a ‘Hey’ day dates back to an Anglo-Saxon use of ‘hey’ as an expression of great enthusiasm and happiness? A person’s ‘heyday’ is the period of her or his greatest vigour and success.

If only this were the case with the latest position on the UK default retirement age. I use the Heyday analogy, as this is the name of the case that has been commented upon by the European Advocate General before the matter finally washes up in the European Court of Justice. For those of you who haven’t been following this case it’s about the Heyday organisation who want people to work beyond the age of 65 and consider that the UK’s current stance with a default retirement age of 65 is discriminatory.

The Advocate General commenting on the case has said that the UK’s stance may not necessarily be discriminatory…but at this stage it is only a comment and the case has to be finally determined by the European Court of Justice.

I do hope the Government uses the opportunity of the Single Equalities Bill to sort this mess out. The default retirement age is really difficult for employers to follow and many end up unsure of what to do when their employees reach the age of 65…even some with large HR and legal departments at their disposal; so spare a thought for small businesses.

In my view, the ‘default’ retirement age is too woolly and we need a clearer statutory position. So please can we have some clarity before I revert to some good old Anglo Saxon expletives?

Dean Shoesmith - Vice President (Elect) PPMA