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Members have been gradually getting used to the procedure that must be followed to retire staff who they do not wish to work beyond their normal retirement age, or who are already beyond that age. There is clear advice on this procedure at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1044 in Annexes 5 & 6. That procedure is detailed and prescriptive, but it had the very substantial benefit that as long as it was followed to the letter the employer was safe from claims to an employment tribunal. No more! There has been a legal challenge In the UK to such compulsory retirement which is unlikely to be heard by the European Court of Justice until Spring 2009, but the President of employment tribunals has now ordered that employees retired against their will can raise a tribunal claim which will be banked until the result of the case in 2009. The Employers Forum on Age, an independent network of leading employers, is encouraging employers to scrap the mandatory retirement age altogether because of the risk now that such a retirement may prove to be unlawful thereby generating substantial compensation. That seems the only sensible advice in this wholly unsatisfactory situation. Back to Stop Press |