United Kingdom: Small Businesses Slow To Adapt to Post-65 Work Rules

A study prepared by Lloyds TSB Business and the SERTeam at the Open University has found that three quarters of Britain’s small firms (with fewer than 50 employees) have yet to put in place procedures to allow their employees to carry on working beyond 65, with 45% saying they were still undecided as to whether they would implement the procedures and 28% claiming they intended to do so. Only 25% of the firms had put in place the ‘right to request’ rules for employees,

Even if they haven't implemented the rules yet--some fearing red tape or rising costs, most firms recognize that there is a need to retain older workers.

Despite the apparent reluctance to encourage staff to work beyond the age of 65, more than a third (34 per cent) of those surveyed said they were bracing themselves for a drop in the number of younger workers over the next decade. Amongst larger firms this view was even more widely held, with 57 per cent of firms employing 20-49 people expecting a fall in younger employees.

Source: Lloyds TSB Business News Release (May 25, 2007)