News from ViSTA
Compulsory Retirement at 65?
Taken from SLIM-Comment:
An announcement this week by the advocate-general to the European Court of Justice rejected the first major challenge to the right of employers to make people retire at 65. The Heyday case, brought by the charity Age Concern, has been running since 2006 to clarify the laws governing age discrimination around retirement.
The ruling will heighten concerns that compulsory retirement at the default age (65) will be enforced more and more as the economy slows down and employment is lost. There is clear evidence that older people, once they have left the labour market, find it very difficult to get back into work, often resulting in the early loss of valuable skills. This may not be an immediate concern for employers given the current economic climate, but it should be a concern for any region that is considering how it can best prepare for economic recovery.
For now advocates of removing the default retirement age must remember that this is not the judgment of the Court, but the opinion of the advocate general on the reference. The final decision of the ECJ is expected later in the year.
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