A High Court decision on the Heyday legal challenge to the default retirement age (DRA) will be announced in the next few days, Personnel Today has learned.
A judge will rule whether a DRA of 65 is necessary to the UK government’s social or employment policy objectives, bringing to an end a lengthy legal process that has been running for almost three years.
Hundreds of employment tribunals are on hold until this case clarifies the law, with millions of workers who are approaching retirement waiting anxiously to find out whether the law will protect them if they want to continue working beyond the age of 65.
Whatever the outcome of the Heyday case, the government has already committed to reviewing the current rules on retirement in early 2010.
Rachel Krys, campaign director at the Employers Forum on Age, said: “If the High Court finds in favour of Heyday, employers will be presented with a real opportunity to scrap retirement ages and realise the benefits of retaining employees beyond 65.
“If the status quo remains and the government win the case, this will not be the end of the story. The UK’s ageing population and the recession has put more pressure on already stretched private pensions and the state pension scheme. More and more people need to work beyond 65; as a country we cannot afford to fund 25+ years of financially secure retirement.”
Personnel Today is supporting a campaign to force the government to scrap the DRA. You can sign our petition on the Number 10 website.
