UK compulsory retirement age 'does not breach EU law'

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that it is not illegal for UK employers to force workers to retire at the age of 65.

The ECJ ruled that the practice is justified if there is a 'legitimate social policy objective related to employment policy, the labour market or vocational training', and that it was up to the UK High Courts to decide whether the current retirement age had such a legitimate aim and was appropriate.

Under current law, an employer can dismiss a member of staff without making redundancy payments when they reach the default retirement age of 65.

Age Concern, which brought the case, argued that this was in breach of the Equal Treatment at Work Directive.

The organisation pointed out that if the Government were to follow this rule, many MPs would have to stand down.

Employees in the UK do have the right to request to continue working beyond 65, but their employers do not have to agree to the request.

The Government has advised that the existing laws on retirement will be re-examined in 2011.