News
Employers Forum On Age Comments On The Ruling By The European Court Of Justice Against The Heyday Challenge
5 March 2009
Catharine Pusey, Director of the Employers Forum on Age, comments on the ruling by the European Court of Justice against the Heyday challenge.Employers Forum On Age Comments On The Ruling By The European Court Of Justice Against The Heyday Challenge
Catharine Pusey, Director of the Employers Forum on Age, comments on the ruling by the European Court of Justice against the Heyday challenge: "We are disappointed, though not surprised, by today's judgment. This further proves that both the ECJ and Government regulations are completely behind the times in recognising the changes and pressures in the modern workforce and society. Meanwhile, enlightened and forward-thinking employers, many of them our members, are moving ahead and promoting policies which make no assumptions about people's employability based on age.
"We have just submitted evidence to the Government's review of the default retirement age, demonstrating that many employers are expecting the number of requests to work beyond 65 to keep rising. In an ageing society and as recession begins to bite, we can no longer afford a culture of early retirement. The EFA works with a number of employers, including B&Q, Hertfordshire County Council and the Department for Work and Pensions, who report that operating without the default retirement age has resulted in significant business benefits; filling skills gaps, keeping valuable members of their workforce, and having a better connection with their diverse customer base.
"It is vital that this anomaly in the age discrimination legislation is removed as it will help deliver the massive cultural shift which is needed to stop people being stereotyped by age. We firmly believe that a default retirement age must be removed altogether, a position that gathered cross party support at a recent debate in the House of Lords.
"The case will now return to the High Court for a decision on whether the default retirement age can be objectively justified by the UK Government. The time this whole process could take is yet another delay in the way of the changes needed to stop this barrier to longer working lives, and its outcome is of less significance the closer we get to 2011, when the Government has already agreed to review the default retirement age."
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For further information please contact:
The Employers Forum on Age
Beth Vaughan 0207 785 6539 beth.vaughan@efa.org.uk
Catharine Pusey 0207 785 6556 catharine.pusey@efa.org.uk
Or
Lansons Communications
Livia Murphy 0207 566 9718 liviam@lansons.com
Helen Thomson 0207 294 3604 helent@lansons.com