I have an employee who will be 65 in October 2011. Can I force him to retire?

With the default retirement age due to be abolished just around the corner, employers need to be aware that they will be unable to lawfully retire employees at 65 after 30 September 2011 unless they can objectively justify operating a compulsory retirement age.

As it stands, the law states that notification of retirement must be given between 6 and 12 months before the intended retirement date. However, the statutory retirement procedure will be repealed from 6 April 2011 so no new notices of retirement can be issued under this procedure from this date. Therefore, provided notification of their retirement is given by 5 April 2011 and they will retire on or before the 30 September 2011, then you can still follow the statutory retirement procedure and retire employees lawfully without running the risk of discriminating on the grounds of age. However, please remember that you still have a duty to consider any request to work beyond retirement age.

For an employee who turns 65 on or after 1 October 2011, you will be unable to terminate their employment by reason of retirement unless you can objectively justify operating a compulsory retirement age - that is that you must be able to show that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Once the statutory retirement procedure has been abolished, you will only be able to rely on one of the other potentially fair reasons for dismissal; capability, conduct, redundancy, illegality or some other substantial reason and ensure you follow a fair procedure under your contractual disciplinary and dismissal procedures.

Are you looking for sense when it comes to Health & Safety?

The registration of those who offer impartial, realistic and balanced advice has finally come about, with the launch of the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR).

Hjspeople welcomes the launch of the Register, and is ensuring that its own consultants in the field of Health & Safety and Environment are fully registered.

In order to join, consultants must conform to the minimum standard - namely a degree level qualification, at least two years’ experience and active engagement in a continuing professional development scheme. All consultants who join the register are bound by their professional body’s code of conduct and must be committed to providing sensible and proportionate advice.

The primary aim of the Register is to increase employer’s confidence in any help that they seek by ensuring that the advice they receive is both objective and sound, and perhaps most importantly, sensible and understandable.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) states that ‘while there is evidence that some businesses are using consultancy when they already have sufficient knowledge internally to manage health and safety, many others are still not accessing the advice they need’.