Worker denied second post-retirement fixed term contract fails in age related discrimination claim

In January 2016, the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 commenced. This Act amended Sections 6 and 10 of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015. These amendments made it a statutory requirement for employers, who are applying a compulsory retirement age, to objectively and reasonably justify the reason for having such compulsory retirement age. This has made it more challenging for employers to fix a compulsory retirement age and employers must be aware of the obligations on them as a result of these new requirements. There has been a considerable amount of retirement related case law that highlights the difficulties for employers with implementing a compulsory retirement age.