Avoiding age discrimination

If you want to dismiss employees when they reach a certain age, e.g.  65, you must be able to justify this on grounds of social/business policy. However, this approach carries a risk of claims for age discrimination

Assuming you do not want to run the risks associated with retirement dismissals, you should ensure that your performance management processes are robust and that any underperformance is addressed promptly and consistently, irrespective of employees’ ages.

Assumptions that older employees are likely to perform less ably due to their age should be avoided, but where a formal process indicates that an older worker’s performance is unacceptable, steps can be taken to terminate their employment.

You may want to ask all employees during their appraisals about their future plans and aspirations, including development, promotion and retirement, which should then help you with workforce planning.