This change will have a significant effect on the way many businesses plan their workforces and manage staff.

After 1 October, employers will be unable to automatically retire employees because they reach a particular age.

Retiring employees after this date will have to be objectively justified and employers will need clear evidence to defend this action if challenged.

Because of the 6 months' notice which has to be given to retire an employee, in practice, employers will no longer be able to compulsorily retire employees using the default retirement age from 6 April.

Employers who fail to embrace this new legislation may face claims of unfair dismissal and discrimination.

View Acas guidance including the Acas Advisory leaflet - Working without the DRA - Employer Guidance.

Acas Training Course - Retirement Process and the Removal of the Default Retirement Age. There is much to consider and act upon with the removal of the DRA and this special Acas training course is designed to help you contextualise and understand the changes as they will affect your organisation.

Acas will also help businesses understand the transition arrangements from the current to the future provisions and many employers may wish to also review employer justified retirement.

View Acas training course listings, dates and locations.