25 September 2009
Further to previous news items (see TPAS items published on the
5th of March and the 15th of July) the High Court has now upheld
the law that allows UK employers to force workers to retire at the
age of 65. Mr Justice Blake decided that the default retirement age
of 65 did comply with an EC Directive against age
discrimination. This brought an end to the long running
"Heyday" case taken up by Age Concern and Help the Aged.
An employer can end a worker's employment at the
age of 65, without any redundancy payment, even if the worker
does not wish to retire. An employer can also choose not to
recruit anyone over the age of 65.
However the judge in the case said there was a compelling case
for the compulsory retirement age to rise. The government has
already passed into law, via the Pensions Act 2007, gradual
increases in the state pension age to 68 by 2046.
Employers have welcomed the ruling and Age Concern/ Help the
Aged have confirmed that they will not appeal. Partly this is
because, as detailed in our July news item, the government is
bringing forward a review of the retirement age. It is hoped that
this review will bring about an increased default retirement
age.
The BBC has published a detailed article, including interviews,
here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8274328.stm
