If your employer wishes to retire you, they have a duty to notify you in writing of your right to make a request to stay on and the date on which your retirement is intended to take place. This compulsory notification must be given not more than a year and not less than 6 months before the intended date of retirement. You and your employer can subsequently agree that the retirement can take place on an earlier or a later date, or the employer can notify you that the retirement date is extended to a further date. However, the employer cannot unilaterally bring the date forward.
Where an employer has failed to notify you of your rights they are under a continuing duty to do so (up until 14 days before the intended date of retirement). However, a very late notification is likely to be successfully challenged (ie. lead to a finding that a dismissal is not because of retirement). A ‘retirement’ dismissal without at least 14 days' notice is automatically regarded as unfair under the law.
