02 April 2012 #Employment
The Court of Appeal has now heard the appeal in the case of R&R Plant (Peterborough) Ltd v Bailey and has upheld the EAT’s decision from last year.
This shows that a strict interpretation of the (now defunct) Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, is being enforced and employers need to be aware that a letter sent notifying an employees of their intended retirement date may fail to comply with the strict statutory requirements if it does not expressly refer the employee to para 5 of Schedule 6, which sets out the obligation for the employee`s request not to be retired to be in writing "and state that it is made under this paragraph".
If it does not say that, it appears that it will be invalid and the dismissal will probably be unfair. May be best to check your notification letters and just be aware of this in case an employee tries to claim their retirement is ‘unfair’.