Law Queries

One of our members would like to keep working after the age of 65. The employer has no objection but are there any employment rights he would lose out on?

There is no legislation preventing someone from working beyond retirement age. The difficulty that does arise is over rights to job protection, which end once an individual has reached 65. There have been a couple of tribunal cases where it has been held that the exclusion from unfair dismissal and redundancy rights is indirect discrimination against men.

The reasoning of the tribunals was that more men than women are likely to fall foul of the rule since they are more likely to be in work beyond the age of 65. Employment tribunals do not establish precedent for future cases but the most recent ruling is likely to be the subject of an appeal, when the legal position on the issue may become clearer.

* More information: Rutherford v Towncircle [2002] Industrial Relations Law Reports (IRLR 768