Partner Article

Retirement ages, tribunal fees and criminal record checks

Retirement age

The former partner in a law firm has lost his lengthy battle to establish age discrimination. The question in the Seldon ~v~ Clarkson Wright & Jakes case was how far a mandatory contractual retirement age can be justified under the Employment Equality {Age} Regulations 2006 and subsequently the Equality Act 2010.

Last year the Supreme Court heard the case and sent it back to the Employment Tribunal to decide whether the law firm’s retirement age of 65 for partners was proportionate. The Tribunal decided that it was. The firm had said it needed the retirement age to allow for succession planning and to avoid the need to resort to performance management to justify a dismissal. The Tribunal decided that the performance management did not work but the succession planning justification did, along with the argument that the firm required older partners to leave to make space for younger colleagues moving up the ladder.

The facts of the case relate to December 2006 before the default retirement age was repealed, and although this final outcome may look like a win for employers, the advice given is to treat the decision with caution and does not give employers ‘carte-blanche’ for a retirement age of 65.

Tribunal fees

The Ministry of Justice has set a date, subject to Parliamentary approval, for introduction of Employment Tribunal fees of: Monday 29th July 2013 {previously they were announced as coming this summer}. All Employment Tribunal Claims and appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal {EAT} on, or after that date, will be liable for the following fees, unless Claimants’ qualify for an exemption:-

Level 1

For straightforward claims, such as unpaid wages, redundancy, holiday and notice pay, will cost: £160.00 to commence the claim and £230.00 to take the claim along.

Level 2

For all other claims, such as unfair dismissal, discrimination, equal pay and whistleblowing, the fee will be; £250.00 to issue the claim and £950.00 to proceed to a hearing.

To make an Appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal will cost £400.00, and a fee of £1,200.00 will be charged if the case goes to an EAT hearing.

Criminal records

Portable on-line disclosure and barring checks will be available from 17th June 2013. Those applying for a criminal record check can choose to subscribe to a new on-line service from that date at £13.00 per annum. The service will allow individuals to keep their criminal record certificate up to date, so they can take it with them from role to role within the same workforce, without the need for additional checks to be made. Employers will be able to carry out free, instant on-line checks, with the consent of the individual, of an individual’s certificate, to determine that it is up to date.

More details are available on the DBS Website

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew Dane .