Default Retirement Age information
Default Retirement Age of 65 remains lawful after Heyday ruling
The Heyday case
Older workers currently have the right to request to continue in work beyond 65. Employers are required to consider this request, but they are not obliged to agree.
The Heyday case argued that the UK Employment Equality (Age) Regulations, which allow employers to retire staff at or after the age of 65 without compensation, breached the EU Equal Treatment Directive by discriminating on the grounds of age. This case was unsuccessful and rejected by the High Court on 25 September 2009.
The Age Regulations were introduced in 2006. They make it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age without justification, but they specifically allow for a mandatory retirement age to be lawfully retained.
Review of the Default Retirement Age
The government had previously committed to review the DRA in 2011, but it has now brought this forward to 2010 as a response to the country's changing demographics and the economic conditions.
The High Court Judge that dismissed the Heyday claim, Mr Justice Blake, noted in his summary that, given the state of the UK economy, there was now a ‘compelling case’ for considering whether a retirement age is necessary. He further welcomed that the government had brought the review forward.
Implications for higher education institutions
It is likely that the government will remove the default retirement age or extend the age at which it comes into effect during the 2010 review following Mr Justice Blake’s comments that the DRA was legal when introduced in 2006, but that he cannot presently see how it can remain after the review.
Many organisations have already decided to abolish their mandatory retirement age, allowing them to retain employees who wish to continue working past the age of 65.
ECU will be working with other sector bodies during 2010 to help higher education institutions manage concerns about moving away from a default retirement age, such as workforce planning and implications for pension provisions.
Further information
ECU has published information on retirement in the following briefing: