Default retirement age should be scrapped says FSB

By dtill

THE Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is supporting Government proposal to bring forward the review on the default retirement age, saying its members think it should be scrapped. New research by the FSB shows 60 per cent of small businesses do not think the Government should set a default retirement age. However, the FSB is urging for a provision in the law to protect employers that need to retire staff because of ill health, threatening their levels of performance.

In a recent survey by the FSB, 60 per cent of respondents employed staff over 50 years old and a quarter employ staff who are over 65, showing small firms are flexible employers. Nearly 80 per cent of small firms responding said they do not use the default retirement age for their staff and 76 per cent believe retirement should be based on a mutual decision between the employee and employer. Two thirds said they did not think the Government should set a default retirement age and 90 per cent of small businesses would consider an employee going into part time or flexible working, rather than retiring.