Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Latest NewsAge discriminationRetirementUnfair dismissal

Oxford University retirement policy facing fresh challenge

by Adam McCulloch 13 Sep 2019
by Adam McCulloch 13 Sep 2019 Oxford University's Clarendon Laboratory
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Oxford University's Clarendon Laboratory
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

A second Oxford University professor this year is challenging the institution over its retirement policy, explaining that his research is too important for him to stop working.

Professor Paul Ewart, the former head of atomic and laser physics at Oxford’s Clarendon Laboratory, retired before his 70th birthday but he claims he was unfairly forced out by the university’s Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) policy.

In May, an employment tribunal ruled against Professor John Pitcher, who taught English at St John’s College in Oxford. Prof Pitcher had claimed that his retirement was unlawful but the judge found that the university’s policy was justified, as it served a social purpose in providing a route up for younger academics, particularly those from more diverse backgrounds.

Pitcher had said he fully accepted the importance of equality and diversity, adding “I am myself from a working class background and the importance of these kinds of social aims weighs strongly with me,” but felt he personally was being discriminated against even as part of a worthwhile policy.

Prof Ewart had worked at Oxford for 38 years until September 2017 and argued that his research was “blossoming” during his final few years. In this period he published 15 papers and took on leading roles in projects to design ultra efficient engines, including work on diesel particulate filters and three-way catalytic converters, which render exhaust gases harmless. He claimed that his work had great importance for society, “particularly in making a contribution to solving the problem of climate change and environmental pollution being driven by emissions from combustion”.

The EJRA policy does allow academics to work beyond 69 in exceptional cases, for example, to finish important research or see a project through to its conclusion. It was brought in during 2011 partly in response to the then government’s ending the formal retirement age of 65 which theoretically meant people could carry on working as long as they wanted.

An assessment was carried out by Oxford before the ERJA was introduced which found that 84% of academics reaching the self-imposed retirement age of 69 were male and there was clearly more ethnic diversity in younger age groups.

Prof Ewart is no longer an employee of the university but, according to the Department of Physics website, he still has status as a visitor with office facilities at the laboratory.

This is the fourth case of retirements being challenged at Oxford University since the Pension Act 2011. In 2014, Denis Galligan, a law professor at Wolfson College, successfully challenged his set retirement age of 67, as did Peter Edwards, a professor of inorganic chemistry at St Catherine’s College, who was also allowed to keep his job at 69.

Cambridge is the only other Russell Group university to have such a policy.

The university told Personnel Today that it wouldn’t comment on an active case.

Legal opinion

Gita Patel, solicitor in the employment team at SA Law, said: “It is unlawful to force an employee to retire unless this can be objectively justified and be shown that a compulsory retirement policy is a proportionate mean of achieving a legitimate aim. It is often extremely difficult for employers to show objective justification, however legitimate aims such as promoting access to employment for younger people and sharing employment opportunities fairly between generations have been deemed in the past to be lawful by the courts. It is likely to be same here.

“Although there is no duty for an employer to consider requests to work beyond retirement, academics at the university are permitted to apply to work beyond the compulsory retirement age in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

“Prof Ewart’s ground-breaking projects on solving climate change and environmental pollution could fall into this exception. However, if the university refuse an application made by Professor Ewart, without giving it genuine consideration, this could be deemed to be unfair and discriminatory. The university will need to proceed with caution to any requests made, to ensure that they do not regularly deviate from their retirement policy otherwise this could undermine their business case, deeming the overall policy to be unlawful.”

 

Adam McCulloch
Adam McCulloch

Adam McCulloch first worked for Personnel Today magazine in the early 1990s as a sub editor. He rejoined Personnel Today as a writer in 2017, covering all aspects of HR but with a special interest in diversity, social mobility and industrial relations. He has ventured beyond the HR realm to work as a freelance writer and production editor in sectors including travel (The Guardian), aviation (Flight International), agriculture (Farmers' Weekly), music (Jazzwise), theatre (The Stage) and social work (Community Care). He is also the author of KentWalksNearLondon. Adam first became interested in industrial relations after witnessing an exchange between Arthur Scargill and National Coal Board chairman Ian McGregor in 1984, while working as a temp in facilities at the NCB, carrying extra chairs into a conference room!

previous post
France faces tough battle over pension reform
next post
Progress on mental health ‘core standards’ lagging behind

2 comments

Avatar
Bradbury Smith 1 Jan 2020 - 12:23 pm

Ewart won his case presenting evidence that the EJRA generated a trivial number of new openings (between 2 and 4!). The tribunal ruled that since age is a protected characteristic, there was no objective justification whatsoever to validate blatant discrimination.

Reply
Adam McCulloch
Adam McCulloch 2 Jan 2020 - 1:51 pm

Thanks Bradbury, yes… just putting a story up now, hopefully with legal comment added in an hour or so.

Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

‘Living Pension Employer’ scheme launched

21 Mar 2023

‘Unretiring’ isn’t the answer to reducing economic inactivity

21 Feb 2023

Staff should be informed about pension impact of...

25 Jan 2023

Older people set for return to work as...

13 Jan 2023

Labour to unveil over-50s retention proposals

10 Jan 2023

Lifestyle preventing over 50s from re-entering workforce

20 Dec 2022

Early retirement contributing to worker shortages, finds Lords...

20 Dec 2022

Around 8.6 million could be in ‘underpensioned’ groups

7 Dec 2022

Two in three over-50s expect ageism in recruitment

16 Nov 2022

Employers must encourage flexible working to retain over...

17 Oct 2022

  • The HR Bundle: Your one-stop guide to building a successful global HR Department PROMOTED | Get your hands on Deel’s free HR bundle...Read more
  • The Benefits of an Employee Assistance Programme PROMOTED | EAPs support employees in a range of ways...Read more
  • Intergenerational working and how to manage up and down the generations PROMOTED | The benefits and challenges of intergenerational workplaces...Read more
  • Bereavement in the workplace: How training can help HR get it right PROMOTED | HR professionals play an essential role...Read more
  • UK workforce mental wellbeing needs PROMOTED | The mental wellbeing support employers are providing misses the mark...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2023

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2023 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+