Is it legal to have a mandatory retirement age for employees?

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that UK legislation on age discrimination, including the mandatory retirement age of 65, could be upheld under EU law.

As expected, the ECJ has followed the advocate-general’s opinion, given in September, on the long-running Heyday case, in which Age Concern has challenged the UK government’s mandatory retirement age on the grounds that it discriminates against older workers without justification. The advocate-general indicated that it was lawful for countries to set mandatory retirement ages, provided they were justifiable as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.