A recent survey carried out by Benefex and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has revealed employers’ responses to the abolition of the Default Retirement Age (DRA).
According to the survey:
- 52.5% of employers intend to allow employees to work as long as they are able;
- 41.6% of employers do not yet know what their response will be;
- 25.2% of employers will improve their performance management system;
- 12.2% of employers intend to objectively justify a retirement age; and,
- 0.4% of employers will increase contributions to pension schemes so that staff do not feel like they have to work for longer.
These statistics cover the economy as a whole.
In relation to improvement their performance management systems, the number of employers that intend to do this is fairly similar (approximately 25%), though the voluntary sector seems to be adopting the most cautious approach (42.3% of voluntary sector employers intend to do the same).
In relation to objective justification of a retirement age, there is much more industry variation. The survey revealed that 31.7% of employers in the manufacturing and production industry intend to set a retirement age. By comparison, just 8.4% of employers in private sector services (and 0% of employers in the voluntary sector) intend to do the same.
The full report can be downloaded here (free subscription required).