Charities take compulsory retirement age fight to High Court

A renewed legal battle to outlaw compulsory retirement at 65 begins in the High Court today, spearheaded by Help the Aged and Age Concern.

They will be arguing that the Default Retirement Age introduced under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 fails to interpret an EU Directive against age discrimination correctly.

The Government will have to show why its social or employment policy objectives make the fixed retirement age necessary, say lawyers for the charities.

Although the campaigners lost the case when they asked the European Court of Justice to rule the practice unlawful, the UK government must still justify its policy of allowing forced retirement.

The hearing comes in the same week that the Government announced that the DRA review will be brought forward to 2010 and solicitor Leslie Seldon, 68, brought a case at the Court of Appeal against his partners after he was forced to leave his job at the age of 65 by the terms of his contract. Judgment was reserved.

The age charities say millions of people approaching retirement will be waiting anxiously for the outcome of the case to find out whether the law will protect them if they want to continue working beyond 65.

More than 300 employment appeals are on hold until this case clarifies the law.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director for Help the Aged and Age Concern said: "We've heard a lot from Government over the last few days about the retirement age, but Ministers have dragged their heels for years on this issue, forcing us to challenge it in the UK courts on behalf of older people across the country.

"The promised review in 2010 is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't come soon enough for thousands of people reaching 65 now who desperately need to carry on working to pay the bills, boost their pensions or simply because they want to.

"While we wait for Government to finally end this discriminatory practice, we hope this case will, once and for all, stamp out the senseless practice of forcing people to retire at 65 purely on the basis of their age rather than ability to do a job."

Under UK law, a British employer can dismiss a member of staff without redundancy payments on their 65th birthday. Employees do have the right to request working beyond retirement age, but although employers have a duty to consider these requests, they need offer no justification for refusal.