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A-G Opinion On Heyday Case Due On 23rd September: The Employers Forum On Age Continues To Wage Fight Against Forced Retirement

17 September 2008

The opinion of the Advocate General on the "Heyday" case is expected to be delivered next week, on Tuesday 23rd September. Although not binding, the Advocate General's opinion will be an indicator of the European Court of Justice's decision, which will confirm whether the compulsory retirement of employees aged 65 or over is in breach of the European Equal Treatment Directive. The case will also determine if the objective justification test used for both direct and indirect age discrimination satisfies the Directive.

Catharine Pusey, Director of The Employers Forum on Age comments, "We have high hopes that the Advocate General's opinion will be in support of the Heyday position. If the ECJ goes on to decide in Heyday's favour, the Government will be obliged to amend its age discrimination legislation and UK employers will no longer be able to insist their employees retire at 65, without the prospect of tribunal claims.

"It's not just attitudes to working beyond 65 that need to change - the fiscal reality is that the UK economy can no longer afford a culture of early retirement as many individuals will have a third of their lives ahead of them as they collect their first pension cheque. As working lives get longer an important part of the work we are doing is to ensure that our members understand age legislation in all its intricacies and benefit from having an age diverse workforce.

Catharine continues, "As part of our ongoing campaign to urge employers and politicians to take a different approach to retirement, this summer we sent spoof retirement letters (replicating the standard notice of retirement letter that thousands of workers in the UK receive when they reach 65 - regardless of whether they wish to retire or not) to all MPs who were approaching or over 65 years of age to notify them that they would need to retire in nine months time. The letters provoked some MPs to write strong letters of support for our campaign to end the default retirement age. These included David Winnick MP, Frank Cook MP, Austin Mitchell MP and Paul Flynn, MP - who told us that this was an issues regularly raised by his constituents

The EFA's long-term campaign is to persuade the Government to commit to remove the retirement age in 2011 - rather than merely reviewing it. This will provide clarity for employers and employees and give employers several years to prepare.

Catharine concludes, "We firmly believe that it is inevitable that the default retirement age (DRA) will be removed altogether, whatever the final outcome of the Heyday challenge."

The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) the UK's leading authority on age in the workplace are available for comment and interview ahead of and after the Advocate General's opinion is given.

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