Retirement form

Our retirement form gives employees an easy way to notify you of their forthcoming retirement and intended retirement date. We’ve drafted the form in such a way that completion of it will amount to their formal resignation.

A written resignation

Where an employee decides to voluntarily retire and formally notifies you accordingly, in law that actually amounts to their resignation. Of course, sometimes the position can be rather blurred because the employee is happy to informally indicate their wish to retire, but they haven’t actually given you their formal verbal or written resignation. So, we’ve made it easy for the employee to notify you and this is where our Retirement Form comes in. The aim of the form is to give employees a straightforward way to confirm their retirement and their intended retirement date in writing. As with any resignation, it’s always better to get it in writing than to rely on a verbal statement. In addition, from your perspective, having this form easily available may hopefully mean that your employee is “encouraged” to confirm their retirement date well in advance, rather than just giving you the minimum period of notice of termination required by their contract of employment. That way, you get longer to succession plan.

Intended retirement date

Our form asks the employee to confirm that they wish to retire from their position and terminate their contract of employment with effect from their intended retirement date, and it asks them to specify that date. It also makes clear that completion and signature of the form constitutes their formal written resignation from employment, with the result that they can’t change their mind about retiring at a later date, nor can they later try to defer their intended retirement date without your express agreement (although, of course, they could try to bring that date forward, particularly where they have given you more notice than they were legally required to give). Where an employee has given you lengthy notice of their intention to retire, it’s advisable to send them a reminder of their retirement date nearer the time.

Optional completion

Whilst it’s acceptable to make our form generally available to your staff (for example, on your intranet), it should not be foisted on your older employees, as that of itself could constitute age discrimination. Its completion should be entirely optional and employees should still be able to inform you of their wish to retire by other means (such as by letter or e-mail), in the same way that they can resign in writing.