Campaign Attacks Retirement at 65
Posted on: Friday, 4 July 2008, 00:00 CDT
Campaigners for age equality called yesterday for an end to the "sudden cliff edge" of retirement at 65.
They said the compulsory end of working life at that age was outdated and bad for businesses and individuals.
The attack on the notion of "default retirement" at any age came as UK retirement rules faced a legal challenge in a case which could force changes to employment law.
Age Concern brought an action in the European Court of Justice arguing that compelling people to stop work at or after 65 without compensation breached European Union equality requirements.
Its lawyers told a hearing in Luxembourg that the UK Employment Equality(Age) Regulations were contrary to the EU's Equal Treatment Directive banning employment discrimination on grounds of, among other things, age. The UK Regulations, introduced in 2006, do ban discrimination against an employee on grounds of age - with the exception of pensioners who can be dismissed without redundancy payments once they reach the age of 65, or the mandatory retirement age of the company if it is above 65.
A court decision is expected later in the year.
Meanwhile Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Liz Lynne said: "We must end the sudden cliff edge of retirement that forces people to stop working at a certain age whether they want to or not, whilst ensuring that individuals still remain entitled to a state pension at an agreed statutory age."
Rachel Krys, director of The Employers Forum on Age, called for a change in attitudes: "A mandatory retirement age of 65 is outdated, no good for individuals and no good for business."
(c) 2008 Yorkshire Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Yorkshire Post
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