Pictured above: Sally Morris, head of employment law at
MFG Solicitors
A Midland law firm that launched a unique service for the
over-50s - with legal experts to deal with their issues - has
turned its attention to age discrimination at work and in finding
employment later in life.
Sally Morris, head of employment law at MFG Solicitors and a
member of the firm's team dedicated to the over-50s, said: "The
Government intends to review the retirement age of 65 and it may be
the case that this will be changed again in the future, supposedly
to be reviewed in 2011."
In the case of discrimination against older workers she said the
Employment Equality (Age) Regulations Act 2006 prohibited
discrimination on the age of employees, but there were different
rules for partners or directors.
Rights for older workers included a default retirement age of 65
and an obligation on employers to consider requests to continue
working after that.
"There is no longer an upper age limit for both unfair dismissal
and redundancy rights and an employer can only defend a
discrimination claim on age if he or she can show there is a
genuine occupational requirement."
Miss Morris said retirement was a potentially fair reason to
dismiss an employee provided that the employer followed the
procedural requirements leading to the retirement date.
"These procedures mean the employee must receive 6-12 months'
notice of his or her retirement in writing and be given the right
to request to continue to work.
"The employer must hold a meeting to discuss the option and the
employee has the right to appeal any decision made.
"The employee can request that his or her employment continues
for an indefinite period or a specific period - or until a specific
date - but it is important to note the employer has no obligation
to agree."
Contracts specifying a retirement age below 65 were legal - but
such regulations required the employer to justify the reason for a
lower retirement age - and show that it was a 'proportionate means
of achieving a legitimate aim.'
"If your employer is unable to objectively justify a lower age
then the contractual term may be unenforceable," she said.
In applying for jobs, the work seeker was also protected. This
applied to advertisements, where words such as 'youthful' should
never be included in the specification and could amount to
discrimination.
"When searching for a job the applicant should be aware that the
employer should be focusing on skills, capability and potential and
not his or her age."
A test case to determine whether the imposition of a compulsory
retirement age of 65 was discriminatory is currently with the High
Court after going through the European Courts.