Many employees are happy to leave their employment when they reach their retirement age, especially if they have an adequate income for their retirement years. If an employee is content to retire, then their contract terminates by mutual agreement. If an employee is forced to retire against his or her wishes, on the other hand, that amounts to a dismissal, which could potentially lead to claims of unlawful age discrimination and unfair dismissal.
A company can avoid these claims by following a prescribed procedure, which involves notifying the employee of its intention to retire him or her at least six months in advance of the proposed retirement date. Since an employee may initially be happy to retire but change his or her mind closer to the retirement date, employers would be well-advised to follow the procedure in all cases, see later.