Weekly issue 7

News in brief

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said that it is not discriminatory for member states to have national laws that set down a compulsory retirement age.

End of term

The law generally requires employers to treat the termination of a fixed term contract as a redundancy and to apply a proper procedure. It also requires them to treat fixed-term employees no less favourably than comparable, permanent employees.

Overly protective

The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULCRA) requires employers to consult unions (among others) before making any employees redundant. If they don’t, tribunals may make a protective award.