UK age discrimination laws prohibit age-based policies, including mandatory retirement ages, unless the treatment supports a ‘legitimate aim’ and is a ‘proportionate means’ of achieving that aim. Rather than risk facing legal action, most employers have abandoned mandatory retirement ages and sought other ways of planning the departure of staff. However, Oxford University continue to operate a mandatory retirement age for its academics. The has led to two Employment Tribunal (‘ET’) judgments: Pitcher v University of Oxford, which held that the policy was proportionate and therefore lawful age-based treatment; and Ewart v University of Oxford, which held that the policy was unjustified and therefore unlawful age discrimination. At the time the applicants in these cases were forced to retire, the mandatory retirement age was 67 but since 2017 the mandatory retirement age has increased to 68. Oxford University have indicated they will appeal the Ewart decision, and, in…
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