It’s time to do away with the default retirement age

So, Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman has broken ranks and admitted that the default retirement age (DRA) is "arbitrary" and would apparently be abolished by a future Labour government.


The messy legislative compromise that this government engineered (the complicated request-to-continue-working procedure) has served only to confuse employees and employers alike. It has also worked against what Harman referred to as the desirable scenario of "facilitating choice for all stakeholders" by allowing employers to continue to fire employees, irrespective of their ability and contribution, just because they reach their 65th birthday.

 

Language does not simply reflect what is going on in organisational life: it also influences what people think and what they do

Linda Holbeche, director of the Holbeche Partnership and visiting professor of HRM/OD at Cass Business School