BWF members such as yourselves frequently use our Member and Technical Helplines for assistance on a wide range of Employment, Health and Safety, Pay and Technical issues. For the next few weeks, we’re putting up a frequently asked question every Tuesday in order to help members and illustrate the type of advice we are able to provide. If you have any questions that you would like to see featured, we would be happy to assist. This question and many others like it can be found in our Question Centre. If you want further advice on any of the issues, don’t hesitate to ring the helpline or browse our extensive publications library, which includes our age discrimination advice and a model statement of main terms of employment. This week: How do I retire an employee? The normal retirement age for both men and women is 65, unless an employment contract says it is higher. Even if an existing contract says employees have to retire at 60, an employer is unlikely to be able to force them to retire before 65 unless they have a very good reason for having a younger retirement age. An employer can force an employee to retire at the normal retirement age. This is 65 or higher, depending on what the contract says. There are rules about how this can be enforced. These include giving written notice of the date an employee is due to retire. Employees also have a right to request to stay on beyond that date and the notice must tell them this as well. The notice should be issued between six and twelve months of the date an employee is due to retire. Failure to follow these rules, means that an employee can make a claim to an employment tribunal and may be awarded up to eight weeks pay. If an employee asks to work beyond the normal retirement age, the employers have to consider this request but they do not have to agree. An employee can retire before they’re 65 if they want too, as long as the employer agrees.