The applicant was employed as director-general, with his contract stating that his retirement age would be 70. Nobody else had a similar occupation within the organisation, and he said this therefore constituted his ‘normal age’ for retirement, entitling hiim to claim unfair dismissal.
Held: The fact that only one employee was in the applicant’s class, did not mean that there could not be a normal retirement age: ‘in cases where an employee has a contractual retiring age, there is no need for comparisons to be made with other employees holding the same position before a normal retiring age can be established’
Judges:
The Hon Mr Justice Evans-Lombe Lord Justice Scott Baker Lord Justice Simon Brown
Citations:
[2003] EWCA Civ 1762, Times 09-Dec-2003, Gazette 05-Feb-2004, [2004] IRLR 147, [2007] ICR 970, [2004] ICR 408, [2004] Pens LR 87
Links:
Statutes:
Employment Rights Act 1996 109(1)(a)
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Wall v British Compressed Air Society EAT 7-Feb-2003
‘To the question ‘was there a normal retiring age for an employee holding the position held by Mr Wall immediately before his dismissal?’ the answer, in our view, is ‘yes, the only employee holding that position was Mr Wall himself, and it was 70′.’ . .
Cited – Patel v Nagesan CA 1995
Mrs Nagesan’s contract specified no retirement age. She was dismissed on attaining 60. The employers disputed the tribunal’s jurisdiction, saying they had written to all employees, including Mrs Nagesan, purporting to introduce a new retiring age of . .
Wrongly decided – Age Concern Scotland v Hines EAT 1983
An employee in a unique position within a company could not have a normal retirement age. ‘For [Miss Hines] it was argued that she fell into a category of one, being the only counselling organiser employed by the appellants, and that there were . .
Cited – Waite v Government Communications Headquarters HL 21-Jul-1983
Colonel Waite had obtained employment with the civil service in 1967 under the Civil Service Code’s relevant terms and conditions which provided for a retirement age of 60. Although the employers could defer retirement under these terms and . .
Cited by:
Appealed to – Wall v British Compressed Air Society EAT 7-Feb-2003
‘To the question ‘was there a normal retiring age for an employee holding the position held by Mr Wall immediately before his dismissal?’ the answer, in our view, is ‘yes, the only employee holding that position was Mr Wall himself, and it was 70′.’ . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 04 July 2022; Ref: scu.188686