A landmark judgment has ruled that employers do, in principle, have the right to retire older workers.
But Sonia Mangat, a solicitor in the employment team at Stratford-upon-Avon based Lodders, has warned that much depends on the circumstances and businesses still need to tread carefully.
She was commenting following the case of fellow lawyer Leslie Seldon, who challenged his firm Clarkson Wright & Jakes’s right to retire him at the age of 65.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Mr Seldon who had claimed it was an act of direct age discrimination.
It ruled that CW&J did have some valid reasons for having a mandatory retirement age for partners. And it stated that employers were within their rights to dismiss older workers, as long as they have a “public interest” defence. However, it referred the case back to the Employment Tribunal to consider whether forcing partners to leave after their 65th birthday was appropriate and necessary.
Mrs Mangat said: “This case shows how the ‘public interest’ defence in age discrimination cases can be positively applied.
“It demonstrates that an employer can justify enforcing their own default retirement age but only if it has a legitimate aim and as Supreme Court Justice Baroness Hale stated, the default retirement age must be a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim.”
She cautioned: “Employers must not become complacent however and think that this case lets them off the hook if they force an employee to retire.
“It may not be appropriate to adopt a single retirement age across the entire workforce if there is a wide range of different jobs being undertaken. Each case should be assessed on its own merits.
“Overall this offers reassurance that compulsory retirement can be justified but it also acts as a warning that the grounds on which you can rely on to evidence your reasons for justification are narrow. In view of this, the issue will undoubtedly continue to be tried and tested in employment tribunals.
“Careful analysis and early planning of why a business may want their own default retirement age will assist many employers defending their decisions.”
Mrs Mangat called on businesses to revisit partnership agreements, contracts of employment and staff handbooks to ensure they accurately reflected the default retirement age position – Lodders’ employment department can advise on these matters and are able to amend any agreements or policies ensuring that they are compliant.
