The Rise of the "Wellderly"

We thought you would be interested in the below bullet point article idea about the "Wellderly" from Nikola Southern at leading specialist employment law firm, Archon Solicitors. Please let me know if you would like Nikola to extend this article for you and I look forward to hearing from you: THE RISE OF THE WELLDERLY • The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations allow employers to retire employees against their will at 65 as long as they follow the correct procedures. • Government intervention and society’s long-held prejudices affect the extent to which we are able to control our working lives • The High Court noted in its judgment that there was now a ‘compelling’ case for setting the default retirement age higher than 65 and that it had taken into account the Government’s decision to bring forward its review of the default retirement age to 2010. The Government is currently calling for evidence to feed into the review • Harriet Harman’s recent comments on the subject suggest that the Government is minded to increase, if not abolish the default retirement age. • The Commission for Equality and Human Rights hopes to short-circuit the review by convincing the Government to use the Equality Bill to abolish the default retirement age • The Age Regulations allow employers to refuse to hire someone over 65, without having to justify it • Older workers may wish to continue working and they should have the right to request to work flexibly Legislative Changes in the Future: • From 6 April this year, the number of years required to build a full basic State Pension will be reduced to 30 from the 44 normally required for men and 39 normally required for women. • State pension age will rise to 65 for women by 2020 and for men and women to 68 between 2024 and 2046 • The Government has relaxed the tax rules to enable employers to offer their employees the option of flexible retirement. It is now possible to draw an occupational pension (as long as the scheme itself allows it) while continuing to work for the same employer. • In 2012, employers will be required to automatically enrol all eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension and to contribute at least 3% of the worker’s qualifying earnings to that scheme. Contacts: Nikola Southern, Archon Solicitors: 0207 397 9650 n.southern@archonlaw.co.uk www.archonlaw.co.uk Lauren Alexander, Maltin PR: 020 7887 1357 lauren@maltinpr.com www.maltinpr.com A photograph of Nikola is available at: www.maltinpr.com/nikola-southern