Are You Thinking of Working Beyond Retirement?

A request to remain in employment after the age of 65 must be considered 'in good faith' an employment appeal tribunal has held in the case of Ayodele v Compass Group,
An employer must approach requests to be allowed to continue working with an open mind and not rely on employees to retire at the age of 65 as a blanket policy; even if such a policy is in place.
Mr Ayodele’s employer informed him of the intention to retire him at age 65 and his entitlement to request an extension. Mr Ayodele did so, but his request was refused without reasons, as was his appeal. A claim for unfair dismissal and age discrimination was then brought. The Claimant's claim was that he had been unfairly dismissed on the basis that the Respondent had not given genuine consideration to the request and the employment tribunal upheld this as saw a breach in obligations under paragraphs 7 and 8 of Schedule 6 to the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

Unusually, at first instance the Claimant gave evidence that there had been substantial discussion of his request, whereas the Respondent's witness asserted that he had already decided that the policy would apply rigidly and the meetings were only a formality.

On the basis of the Respondent's account, it was upheld there was an obligation and duty to consider the request in good faith, in the sense that an employer must genuinely consider whether it should be accepted. However, the EAT noted that it will usually be very difficult to show bad faith. No inference can be drawn from the refusal of a request, nor from the fact that a policy exists of not agreeing to such requests.
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