Court decides 'forced' retirement not discrimination
Compulsory retirement is not discrimination even where those in insurance sales recruitment positions are working well, a case in the European court states.
Launched by Age Concern, the case was rejected by the European Court of Justice, which held the practise was not discrimination on the basis of age.
An appeal to the full European Court will still go ahead, which could mean those in insurance sales recruitment could not be dismissed without reason at the age of 65.
Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Brendan Barber described the situation as "hugely disappointing".
Claiming many need to work beyond retirement age in order to make ends meet, he suggests this allows employers to dismiss staff on the basis of age "regardless of whether or not they are doing their job well".
"It makes no sense that we have laws in the UK that aim to remove age discrimination, but include a get-out clause," he says.
The TUC contains unions representing 6.5 million workers.
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Filed: 24-09-2008
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