The UK’s national retirement exemption has passed its first test, says Charles Pigott
Amid the current economic gloom there has been some good news for the government. At the end of last month Advocate General Jan Mazák published his opinion in the Heyday litigation (Age Concern England v Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform [2008] All ER (D) 44). If followed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), it will make it easier for the government to defend the controversial provision which largely removes employees aged 65 or over from the protection of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1031).
Two years ago Heyday, an organisation linked to Age Concern, issued judicial review proceedings against BERR— formerly the DTI—the government department which had sponsored the Regulations, which were passed to implement the age strand of the Employment Framework Directive (2006/78/EC). Heyday challenged reg 30, which, subject to procedural safeguards, prevents employees who have reached 65 from bringing age discrimination claims when they are compulsorily retired. Heyday’s main argument was that reg
