In Great Britain, age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. An employer who acts on assumptions about an older worker's retirement plans when allocating training, promotion, work or redundancy may face a discrimination claim. There is no general default retirement age in most jobs. Northern Ireland has separate age discrimination legislation; seek jurisdiction-specific guidance.
Have regular career and development conversations with all workers, not just older colleagues. Ask what people hope to do in one or three years, what skills they want to develop and what working patterns might help. Keep records consistently; do not turn a future-planning conversation into a demand for an exit date. Workers do not have to answer questions about when they intend to retire.
It is fine to discuss retirement if a worker raises it. Where there is a genuine business-planning need (for example a specialist post requiring a long recruitment lead time), Acas says an employer may ask, but should clearly state that there is no pressure to retire or make a decision. Do not ask about retirement as part of a performance or attendance discussion. Asking the question is not automatically unlawful in every context; pressure or less favourable treatment can make it discriminatory.
For broader employer resources: https://myredundancyrights.co.uk/employer/process