This query comes from a disputed Will which says retirement must be at age 60 for the lady in question but she disagrees. The business is a small limited company
Can anyone suggest any web sites that may have the answer ? Or perhaps someone may have a definitive answer they could pass on ?
Thank you
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I believe that for a lady aged 60 now, it's up to a company to decide whether or not to retire anyone at pension age. If the lady is aged 60 now, she should be entitled to a State pension so a company can retire her if they so wish.
I think you should phone ACAS, they seem to have the answer to everything to do with employment.
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The statutory retirement age in the UK is now 65 for both males and females. Anyone can be made to retire at 65 but not earlier. (Employees do have the right to request to work beyond this age, but the employer does not necessarily have to allow it.)
HOWEVER, an employee can be made to retire at 60 IF an employer can prove that working beyond the age of 60 is inappropriate due to the physical demands and occupational hazards of the job. The employer needs to be aware that this would need to be able to be proven, or else the employee would have good grounds to claim age discrimination.
The answer above is not quite correct in the sense that the age at which one is entitled to state pension is NOT necessarily the same age at which one must retire. Eventually both of these ages will be 65 for everyone, but right now there are still some women who are entitled to receive a state pension at a lower age than 65. This doesn't mean that they can be forced to retire any earlier though.
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British businesses can continue to force employees to retire at 65 without breaking EU rules, the European court of justice ruled today.
Guardian 5th March 2009