At present, employment contracts usually set a retirement age of 60 years for women and 65 for men. As part of the plans to end the sex discrimination imposed by these different retirement ages the Government wants to force companies to retain employees until they themselves decide to retire. The Eastern Branch of the Institute of Directors - which represents nearly 1,000 company directors in the local area says it can see both advantages and problems with abolishing contractual retirement ages.
Many firms have flexible arrangements in place already.
More typically, it may not be in the interests of the business for people to remain at work. The law should allow flexibility. Employers should be able to negotiate retirement ages with employees, allowing them to continue to use their skills and allowing employers to continue to benefit from the - but only for as long as both parties wish to do so.