Thought you were gonna retire at 65 did you, read on…
Government proposals that could see millions of people working until they are 70 have been unveiled.
The plans for tackling age discrimination, which stem from a European Union directive, will mark the biggest change in employment law for a generation.
Employers are set to be banned from enforcing a retirement age below 70.
The new proposals are also designed to outlaw ageist advertising and workplace practices.
Under the new rules employers would not be allowed to stipulate the required ages for a job or to tell older employees they did not qualify for training schemes.
The legislation could see many more people working on into their sixties.
Currently employers can set compulsory retirement ages for staff.
But under the new plans that would not be allowed and they would have to allow people to work until they were 70.
The government believes that unfair age discrimination costs the economy billions of pounds – as much as £16bn a year – and stops people realising their true potential.
Ms Hewitt condemned ageism as the “last bastion” of discrimination.