Notes to Editors:
The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) responds to the referral of the decision on retirement ages to the ECJ:
Public Sector Employers now at risk if they force employees to retire
- The ECJ decision might not be end of the story. In the past the ECJ has just given guidance to domestic courts. This creates further uncertainty
- It is not always clear whom the courts will consider a public sector client. This may not just apply to Government Departments and Local Authorities.
- Under age discrimination law which came into force on the 1st October, employers maintained the right to lawfully retire anyone at or above a new national default retirement age of 65.
- Some of the UK's biggest employers and members of the EFA are already operating without a fixed retirement age including HBOS, JD Wetherspoon, and Co-operative Group. Case studies are available on request.
- In its responses to the consultations on the regulations, the EFA consistently highlighted the problems which a default would bring to employers, specifically that fewer employees will be given the opportunity to work post 65 and that there would be confusion as to the right to request to continue to work.
- The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) is the leading campaigner on age issues in the workplace. The EFA is a think tank of employers established 10 years ago because they wanted to eradicate ageism in the workplace. Since then it has helped provide advice, training and support for workplaces that want to eradicate age discrimination from their employment practices (and help prepare them for the new legislation.)
6 December 2006
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