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The gradual removal of the Default Retirement Age (DRA) rules will start at the beginning of the new financial year and will be completed by 1 October 2011.

After 6 April, employers will not be able to initiate sacking procedures under Default Retirement Age (DRA) rules. Between this date and 1 October, employers will only be able to use the DRA for employees notified before 6 April that they are to be sacked, and then will actually be before 1 October.
 
Under the current legislation, employers can sack workers once they reach the age of 65 for no reason other than their age and are under no obligation to pay a redundancy settlement.
 
However, the rule has come under increasing criticism by unions and equality charities, who claim that it overlooks and pays little value to the contribution made by older workers.

Compulsory retirement will not, under these changes, be entirely abolished. Employers can still run their own age-related compulsory retirement under certain circumstances. Examples of these given by The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills included air traffic controllers and police officers.

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