Thursday, 5 March 2009

Retirement Age Backed by European Court

THE TELEGRAPH: European judges have backed Britain's compulsory retirement age of 65.

The verdict in Luxembourg amounts to a defeat for Age Concern's legal battle to banish enforced retirement at 65, but the final decision still rests with the UK High Court.

The European Court of Justice acknowledged that EU rules do ban employment discrimination on grounds of age but ruled the age could be enforced if it was related to employment policy or if it would help the labour market.

The High Court, which sent the case to Luxembourg for clarification of the law, will now have to make a final ruling on whether the aims of the Government's 65 retirement age are "legitimate".

The UK's Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, introduced in 2006, ban age discrimination but exclude pensioners, who can be dismissed at 65 without redundancy payments, or at the employer's mandatory retirement age if it is above 65. >>> | Thursday, March 5, 2009

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