Professors at the University of Oxford are getting ready for an Employment Tribunal Hearing in November contesting the University’s policy of compulsory retirement at age 68. A number of the staff will lose their jobs tomorrow as a result of the policy and are seeking to get the policy overturned and to be allowed to continue working.
The statutory default retirement age was abolished some years ago, however it has remained open to employers to operate it’s own default retirement age as long as it can justify doing so. The reasons for operating a retirement age can vary, from recognising the physical requirements of a role and protecting health and wellbeing through to ensuring succession plans and inter-generational fairness.
Operating a retirement age can be one of the thorniest issues for employers to deal with as the employees contesting the policies are invariably in their 60s or 70s and therefore fear not being able to find other work elsewhere. If they have an outstanding mortgage or do not have enough in their pensions the employees can face a very difficult and insecure financial future. The arguments can therefore become particularly acrimonious and employers therefore need to tread very carefully when managing retirement both from a legal but also a personal perspective.
It will be interesting to see how the Tribunal finds in this case and if the employees are successful the reasons the Tribunal gives for reaching it’s conclusion.
If you or your business are affected by retirement planning for staff please do call our Employment Team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form to discuss your options to discuss the issues involved.