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Retirement age? Who needs one!

There is no official retirement age in the UK. Age regulations introduced a default retirement age of 65 but this is not mandatory. Employers do not need to set a retirement age at all. With no requirement for a retirement age, many employers are taking advantage of this to keep experienced skilled workers.

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Case Study

City of London Police

City of London Police use a variety of awareness-raising methods to educate the workforce about age matters. "This has contributed to our staff having faith in the systems we have in place and improving staff morale," comments Steve.

Their staff publication, The Force, features articles about age legislation and positive examples of older employees. A poster campaign, used across all sites, carries the theme 'First impressions count.. age shouldn't'. It is supported it by a fact sheet for staff about age discrimination and age diversity issues.

Raising awareness amongst staff and running schemes to help and encourage older recruits is also backed by practical steps designed to prevent age-related discrimination. For example, all references to age have been removed from job advertisements, and staff involved in interviewing and selecting use a generic competency framework.

The Force's innovative 'Buddy Contact Scheme' has been a great success too, with a positive effect on staff retention by supporting new joiners, including older recruits.

For example, one of their Police Constables joined at age 48. "I've been in service for 3 years now. It could have seemed daunting at first but the Buddying Scheme really helped me find my feet."

Flexible retirement

City of London Police consider and grant extensions to retirement ages in order to retain officers.

"The retention of quality staff is essential," says Det Inspector Steve Chandler. "Around 800 police work in this relatively small force, and our flexible approach means that some staff are taking up the option to continue to work instead of taking retirement."

On the front line at 60-plus

Bob Perrin, alias Reggie, has 16 years' service with the Force. That's not unusual; what is, is the fact that aged 60 Bob is still a front-line officer. Bob has been pushing back the age barriers from the day he joined the Force, then aged 44. In those days, the official upper age limit for joining the police service was 40 and Bob answered a recruitment advert for the City, which stated applicants should be under 35.

"The City gave me a chance," he said. "I disagreed with the policy that when you're 40 you're written off, and I have proved them wrong. I have a wealth of experience, so why can't I use it?"

Now Bob and others in the 60-plus age bracket continue to work in the front-line work, with the usual annual assessment.

"Others are going down the same line now and people can come and see me for advice," he said. There's no sign Bob's in the mood to move on. "I love being out there with the public," he said. "In the City, I'm a face the community knows. At some incidents, people find an older face easier to talk to. My younger colleagues keep me youthful too!"

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