17 October 2007
Business leaders welcomed the European Court of Justice (ECJ)
ruling that companies are allowed to force employees to quit when
they reach their normal retirement age without breaching European
Union discrimination rules.
The Court rejected an appeal by a Spanish employee who was
forced to retire by his Spanish employer when he reached 65.
However lawyers are now divided on whether the ruling will have
any bearing on the British case against the Age Discrimination
Regulations brought by lobby group Heyday. In the Spanish case, the
ECJ allowed the compulsory retirement age as an appropriate means
of achieving a legitimate aim - promoting full employment in the
younger generation of workers by facilitating access to the labour
market. It therefore remains to be seen whether the UK Government
is able to justify allowing employers to compulsorily retire
employees at age 65 against the background of the UK employment
market.
