Harassment and victimisation are also prohibited. There is a default retirement age of 65, but employers will be under a duty to consider requests to continue working beyond the retirement age. It will be possible to set a retirement age under 65 only if you can objectively justify it. If you do not follow the correct procedure when retiring employees, the dismissal will automatically be unfair and give rise to a claim.

If you breach the legislation, you may find your company facing an employment tribunal claim. Compensation will be unlimited.
The legislation will affect:
• the language you use in advertising (avoid terms such as "young", "dynamic", "mature")
• the criteria you use for selection (job applicants “must be aged between 25-35” will be unlawful; a requirement for “three years’ industry experience” may be unlawful, unless this can be justified objectively)
• the basis on which you offer employee benefits
• the retirement age you can specify
• your ability to prevent staff working beyond retirement age
• the culture within your workforce - managers and staff may need training on the benefits of an age diverse workforce; they will also need to be aware of the risks to the organisation if they base decisions on unfair,
age-related stereotypes or make inappropriate and unwanted jokes at the expense of older (or indeed younger) staff.

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