Brussels, 23/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - British law, which allows employees to be required to retire once they reach the legal retirement age, does not automatically infringe Community law on equality of treatment at work, according to the Court of Justice advocate general. The opinion delivered by Ján Mazák on 23 September, says that such a measure can comply with Council directive 2000/78 on equality of treatment at work insofar as it can be justified objectively and proportionately.
Some see this as an erosion of the rights of older people. “This decision is certainly a setback on the road to ending age discrimination,” said MEP Liz Lynne (ALDE, UK). She pointed out in a press release that this was only the opinion of the advocate general and that the Court was not required to follow it. “I sincerely hope that the formal ruling of the Court will put an end to the sudden cliff edge of retirement that forces people to stop working at a certain age whether they want to or not.” The director general of Age Concern, Gordon Lishman, is more temperate in his views. “It's a setback not a disaster,” he says in a press release, before pointing out that the advocate general says that justification is necessary if there is any discrimination. “Now up to the UK government to prove to the High Court that their social and employment policies are important enough to justify kicking people out of work at 65.”
Age Concern is a Charity which promotes the well-being of the elderly in the United Kingdom.
It used the British high court against the national legislation, particularly the “Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006” (2006 regulation on age employment equality) adopted that year for the transposition of directive 200/78. Article 30 of the said regulation does not include anything, “in Parts 2 or 3 that shall render unlawful the dismissal of a person to whom this regulation applies at or over the age of 65 where the reason for the dismissal is retirement”. Age Concern is against the possibility of a forced retirement going against this directive, especially when the employers involved have no obligation to pay any redundancy compensation.
The advocate general initially observed that contrary to what was claimed by the British authorities, the national legislation in question is obviously subordinate to the Council directive. It then advised the Court to judge whether discrimination against the elderly can be justified, but only in the interest of the labour market and only if the measures are “not inappropriate and unnecessary”. This assessment now falls to the national jurisdiction. More than 260 similar cases are pending in the courts of England and Wales, whilst awaiting the ECJ's decision. The retirement age in the United Kingdom is currently 65 for men and 60 for women. Between 2010-20, the retirement age will gradually be aligned to that for men. (C.D./trans/rt/rh)