July 2010 - Baby Boomers 65 Soon: Avoid Age Discrimination!

With the first wave of Baby Boomers turning 65 next year, employers and their employees need to understand the rules relating to compulsory retirement age. In a nutshell, forcing someone to retire at 65 could - unless our labour laws are strictly complied with - amount to automatically unfair discrimination on the grounds of age.

And businesses will pay dearly for getting it wrong. For example the Labour Court recently ordered an employer to pay maximum compensation (a full 2 years' remuneration, with punitive costs) to an employee who, having been employed at the age of 63, was forcibly retired at 65.