Adrian Norton on LinkedIn: WRC finds charity worker's retirement age valid for succession planning… (2024)

https://lnkd.in/ebduGGuU WRC finds charity worker's retirement age valid for succession planning reasons. A significant number of Irish employers include a mandatory retirement age in their contracts of employment or employee handbooks. The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2021 prohibit discrimination in employment on a number of grounds, including age.However, there is an exception that allows employers to impose a mandatory retirement age on employees provided that the practice is objectively justified. Section 34(4) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 (EEA) provides that it shall not constitute age-based discrimination to fix a retirement age for employees if the following conditions are met: It is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim; andThe means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary

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#unfairdismissal Can an employer fairly dismiss an employee who has reached the agreed retirement age?In Seokwane v Bidvest Prestige Cleaning Services (Pty) Ltd, the Labour Court found that a general worker was discriminated against because of her age upon being dismissed by her employer. As a result, the dismissal was accordingly automatically unfair.The employee was employed on a standard three-year fixed-term employment contract, even though the employee was already 62 years old, which was over the stipulated retirement age (60 years) as stated in the employer’s retirement policy. The Court found that the true reason for the employee’s dismissal was based on the employer’s operational requirements, which means that the employer was not able to use section 187(2)(b) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) as a defence for its conduct.Many employees, like the employee in this particular judgment, are in a similar situation because they have not saved enough for retirement and envisage life after retirement as a period in which they will have to take up further employment to afford the cost of living.Section 187(2)(b) of the LRA allows employers to be protected from claims of unfair discrimination on the grounds of age if the reason for, or proximate cause of the dismissal is that the employee has already reached the standard or agreed retirement age. The Court reasoned that the employee was subjected to an automatically unfair dismissal (based on age discrimination) and should be compensated in an amount equivalent to 12 months’ remuneration at her rate of remuneration on dismissal.The dismissal of employees who have reached and worked beyond the normal retirement age has been found to be fair. Employers do not waive their rights to enforce the normal retirement age by serving salary adjustment letters after their employees reach the normal age of retirement.

Proportionately there are more women in lower paid professions and part time roles.Measures to pension from the first £1 will therefore be a positive step forward. At a national level, we still need to address the high cost of childcare in the UK and other barriers to closing the Gender Pension Gap.Let’s also challenge how we think about the allocation of family finances and help to support women to better understand:·how they can make the most of employee options and State benefits·the importance of independent pension provisionIn this article, Helen Gilchrist and I take a look at some practical workplace support options.https://lnkd.in/eYGufkHr

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Need a reason not to force an older worker to retire? I've got 105,000 of them.𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 ... 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻."When are you going to retire?" "Why don't you retire at 65?" "What is the reason you are not retiring?"A company manager at a manufacturing and distribution company allegedly asked these questions of a direct report as she approached her 65th birthday, according to the EEOC in a lawsuit it filed last year.I probably would've stuck with "Chocolate or vanilla?"But that's just me.Then again, I'm an employment lawyer who appreciates that forcing a private-sector employee to retire generally violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the federal law forbidding age discrimination against workers aged 40 or older.The EEOC further alleged that after the employee responded that she had no plans to retire, the company informed the employee that it was eliminating her position due to economic uncertainty.Except, here's the thing. The EEOC claimed the company hired a man in his thirties less than a month later for the same position the company claimed to have eliminated.Oof!𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁.Eventually, it probably dawned on the employer that protracted litigation wouldn't improve an already bad situation. So, it settled before the parties took any formal discovery.Under the three-year consent decree settling the suit, the employer agreed to pay the former employee $105,000 in back pay and liquidated damages, conduct training, revise policies, provide regular reports to the EEOC, and post a notice affirming its obligations under the ADEA.𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗔'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.This employer really stepped in it here, but are there situations where an employer can force early retirement without violating the ADEA? Yes, but they are limited. The ADEA has two exceptions:1️⃣ An employer can force retirement where age is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business or duties of the position. Think safety-sensitive positions. And even then, call a lawyer first.2️⃣ The second exception applies to workers 65 years of age who, for the two years immediately before retirement, are employed in a bona fide executive or higher policymaking position, if such employee is entitled to an immediate nonforfeitable annual retirement benefit from a pension, profit-sharing, savings, or deferred compensation plan, or any combination of such plans, of the employer of such employee which equals, in the aggregate, at least $44,000. Got all that?As I said, as a general rule, private-sector employers should not force their workers to retire.#TheEmployerHandbook #humanresources #employmentlaw

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Is it time that companies are more flexible on their retirement age policy?Last week was a legal first in Ireland where an employee won his case in the WRC, allowing him to return to his employment at 65 years of age. There must be many many roles, especially considering how difficult it can be finding the right talent for some opportunities, that a more experienced individual can continue for many years to add value to an organisation?#talentscopeireland #retirement #experiencedtalent #experiencedcandidates #experiencedprofessionals #diversityequityandinclusion https://lnkd.in/eGCxG3dH

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Last week, our #GoodEmployment news highlighted:🔵 Isle of Man introduces employment law reforms for whistleblowing, parental leave and zero-hour contractsA number of parental leave benefits were added, including the right to accompany a partner to antenatal appointments, shared parental leave and parental bereavement leave. Employees under zero-hour contracts have the right to receive a written statement of the terms and conditions of their employment on day one.🔵 Stockport employers are to be spot-checked by The Pensions Regulator, protecting retirement savings of workersThe most common breaches involve failure to enrol eligible employees in pension schemes or to pay contributions into the schemes on behalf of those staff members within a prescribed timeframe, including money that has already been deducted from their wages. Read more:https://ow.ly/Vc0v50P1ZAk

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Commons Committee recommends government support to help employers recruit from disadvantaged groups : The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee has published a 96-page report containing numerous recommendations to the government on ways in which it could encourage greater employment among demographic groups in which there are currently high levels of economic inactivity. The report covers young people (aged between 16 and 24), over-50s, and people with disabilities and long-term health conditions. It considers the levels of economic inactivity within these groups and the barriers to being economically active, as well as the impact of the government's existing employment support schemes (such as Kickstart and Access to Work). It also examines what support individuals within these groups may need to return to work. #diversityandinclusion #discriminationlaw #employmentlawuk

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Our recent research shows that on average, women across all age groups have 55% less in their pension pots than men.Director of policy and research at Cushon, Steve Watson, discusses how to identify pension gender gaps in the workplace, how to reduce them and the future impact: https://hubs.la/Q026pZ8d0#pension #pensiongendergap #pensiongap

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*** Experts reaction to the UK need to increase its state pension age to 71 ***🤔 The UK will need to increase its state pension age to 71 by 2050 to maintain the number of workers per retiree, theInternational Longevity Centrehas warned. In this article, experts react to this suggestion.🤔 With many of my candidates suspecting they are subject ageism in their job search, organisations will need to take steps to embrace an older employees - actively plan for a multi-generational workforce, which includes forming and growing teams with various complementary skills and find creative ways to offer flexible working.🤔 A previous People Management magazine article indicated employers view hiring over 55s as a ‘risk’, experts say, while a fifth of older employees have felt discriminated against because of their age.#diversityandinclusion #hr #leadership #agingworkforce #inclusion

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News of the gender pension gap this week again highlighted the higher impact of childcare & other caring responsibilities has on women. They are more likely to work part-time or have multiple jobs and make up 79% of people who earn less than the automatic enrolment earning threshold for a workplace pension. The government, employers and the financial services industry need to examine what they can do to help close the gap. I hope in my job, I can be part of the solution.https://lnkd.in/eDygUN3n

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