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An Employment Tribunal held in Plewes v Adams Pork Produce Limited (APP) 2600842/07 that the default retirement exemption in regulation 30 of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (the "Age Regulations") could not be relied on by an employer when it retired an employee on the day before his 65th birthday.
The exemption in regulation 30 of the Age Regulations states that an employer does not discriminate against an employee on the ground of age if they are dismissed for retirement at or over the age of 65.
Mr Plewes had been an employee of APP since 1 October 2001. His employment contract contained a clause which stated that his normal retirement date was the day before his 65th birthday. His retirement date was therefore 29 December 2006. Mr Plewes made a request to continue working beyond his retirement date but this request was turned down on 19 October 2006 and again on appeal on 21 December 2006. Mr Plewes submitted a grievance on 26 December 2006 but APP never responded. On 15 January 2007, Mr Plewes was re-engaged by APP as an agency worker and received a lower salary for doing the same work.
APP sought to rely on the exemption in regulation 30 of the Age Regulations but were unsuccessful. The Tribunal held that this exemption only applied to retirement at or over the age of 65. Mr Plewes was asked to retire on the day before he turned 65. It was therefore held that Mr Plewes' dismissal was discriminatory and, further, that such discrimination could not be objectively justified by APP. He was awarded over £36,000 in compensation, which included an award of £7,500 for injury to feelings.
