Age discrimination

Case 7: The facts

Werner Mangold was employed in Germany under a fixed-term contract. German law limited the duration of such contracts to two years, and allowed them to be renewed no more than three times – but this restriction did not apply if the worker was over a certain age (initially 60, subsequently reduced to 58 and then 52).

Mangold said that this exclusion was contrary to European law on both fixed-term contracts and age discrimination.

The ruling

The European Court of Justice held that the law was discriminatory, because it introduced a difference in treatment on grounds of age. Although its intention was to promote employment of older workers, the means to achieve that aim were not appropriate and necessary and therefore could not be justified.

This ruling has implications for the way the UK implements the European provisions on age discrimination. It even suggests that these provisions must be taken into account before the deadline for implementation (December 2006) is reached.

Mangold v Helm Case C-144/04 ([2006] IRLR 143)