Hearing Scheduled on Retirement Age Challenge
The UK Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, which came into force on 1 October 2006, make all retirement ages under 65 illegal unless objectively justified.
Heyday, an organisation backed by Age Concern to support people approaching or in early retirement, has challenged the Government over the inclusion of the mandatory retirement age on the grounds that this means that the Regulations do not fully implement the EU Equal Treatment Directive. The organisation wants the legislation amended to give workers over 65 the same protection from discrimination as younger workers. In order to settle this issue, the matter was referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
A hearing is due to be held before one of the ECJ's Advocate Generals on 2 July 2008. A written submission on the merits of Heyday's case and the legality of the UK Government's transposition of the EU Directive will then be submitted to the ECJ and it is possible that the Court will come to its decision before the end of the year.
Says Dean Parnell, "There are many workers who wish to continue working after the age of 65, so the ECJ's ruling on the Heyday organisation's challenge to the age discrimination legislation, as implemented in the UK, is awaited with interest."
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