Cambridge University is considering introducing a fixed retirement age of 67 but only for its academic staff, delegates heard.
Following the abolition of the default retirement age (DRA) in October, employers can no longer compel employees to leave at a fixed age unless there is a justifiable reason for doing so.
“Suddenly there was a real people issue to deal with,” HR director Indi Seehra, said. “Eight hundred years of success has been about osmosis from generation to generation.”
In November last year the HR committee at Cambridge set up a working group to take an in-depth look at whether the university should introduce an Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) and whether this should apply to all staff.
“At the time nobody else was talking in the same way except Oxford,” said Seehra.
Over nine months of heavy consultation the university looked at the potential impact of the removal of the DRA, including an increase in the average age of employees and a reduction in vacancies for new employees.
The group concluded that it would be inappropriate to set a retirement age for all staff but, with 64 per cent of new academic opportunities being created through retirement, it should be the case for tenured academics. That recommendation will now go to senior administrators and the university’s academic community for a final decision, with a view to implementation in April of next year.
If approved, the move “is just the end of the beginning” said Seehra, given the potential pressure of future case law.
Sue Jenkins, head of the employment and pensions groups at DAC Beachcroft, pointed out that some of the factors that the courts have previous agreed can be legitimate reasons for an EJRA include physical fitness, promotional prospects for younger workers and additional cost. But she added that the threshold is high and the test is whether it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
Jenkins added that she wouldn’t be surprised if Cambridge proves to be a trailblazer and “we see retirement ages coming back”.