In the recent case of Compass Group plc v Ayodele, the UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) has ruled that an employer must give genuine consideration, in good faith, to an employee’s request to work beyond retirement under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (the “Age Regulations”). A blanket refusal to grant any such request without giving any consideration to the employee’s representations in circumstances where the decision is pre-determined (e.g. by a company policy), will result in the dismissal for retirement being unfair.

This case will be of interest to those employers who have already served notice of retirement on employees on or before 5 April 2011 which, because of the forthcoming abolition of the default retirement age of 65 on 1 October 2011, is the last date on which employers could serve valid retirement notices under the Age Regulations.Continue Reading Employer’s duty to consider request to work beyond retirement