Employment law ruling ‘makes it hard to force workers to retire’

Posted 27/04/2012

An employment law tribunal has ruled that a law firm was right to be able to force one of its partners to retire at the age of 65.The company defended itself by claiming it was necessary in order to open up opportunities for younger members of staff at the organisation to become a partner.Michelle Mitchell, director-general of Age UK, hailed it as a “wake-up call” to employers, reports the Independent.”This judgment makes it clear it will be very difficult to justify forced retirement on grounds of age alone,” she was quoted as saying by the news provider.The tribunal ruled that companies have to ensure their “mandatory retirement rules can be justified in their particular business”.Director-general of lobby group the British Chambers of Commerce John Longworth recently claimed that many firms in the UK are still coming to terms with employment law changes announced by the coalition government.Posted by Hywel Griffiths