Workplace Report June 2000

Features: Law at work

Age discrimination

The House of Lords has upheld a ruling by the Court of Appeal in the case of Taylor v Secretary of State for Scotland, The Times Law Reports, 12 May 2000. It held that an equal opportunities age equality policy is contractual, only up to the time when the employee reaches retirement age.

Similarly, the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has held that tribunal chairs and others who are members of government boards have the right to benefit from the protection of European equality laws (Perceval-Price v Dept of Economic Development [2000] IRLR 380).