Retirement age reform would give contractors and other professionals greater workplace rights, according to one expert.

Laith Khalaf, pensions analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, is behind government plans to scrap the Default Retirement Age (DFA), claiming it would mean workers can remain in employment for longer if they so wish.

"The Default Retirement Age does need to be reformed because the government are trying to encourage people to work longer. People are going to have to work longer because the state pension is rising and because people are living longer," he said.

This comes after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) stated that the government must clarify its stance on retirement and how it will respond to the concerns of businesses over the scrapping of the DFA.

In the absence of a replacement to the DFA, the CBI called for the change to be delayed for a year, the law on performance management and unfair dismissal to be simplified and the state pension age to be used as a milestone at which employers could stop offering occupational benefits.