SIPTU secures €28,000 award for equality breaches for member forced to retire

The SIPTU Workers Rights Centre (WRC) has secured a payment of €28,000 for breaches of employment equality legislation in the case of a member who was forced to retire from her work in a major sports club in north county Dublin.

SIPTU WRC Sector Organiser, Des Courtney, said: “SIPTU member, Doreen Nolan, was employed as a receptionist in a major sports club in north county Dublin since 1988. Her enforced retirement in 2020 was found by an Adjudication Officer of the Workplace Relations Commission to be in breach of equality legislation on both gender and age grounds.

“Doreen was informed by her employer that she would be compulsorily retired upon reaching her 65^th birthday. No rationale was provided to show that her compulsory retirement was objectively and reasonably justified. In finding in Doreen’s favour, the Adjudication Officer stated: ‘The [employer] introduced a retirement age and enforced it. Whilst the employer is entitled to set down a retirement age, the setting of a retirement age must be objectively justified’. Doreen was awarded a total of €28,000 for breaches of the legislation.”

He added: “This is the latest in a number of successful similar cases taken by the SIPTU WRC on behalf of union members. All workers should familiarise themselves with their rights and entitlements around retirement. Many believe that they can be compulsorily retired at a particular age. However, both the legislation and the decisions of the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court regularly confirm that this may not be the case. The SIPTU WRC is leading the way in this area of employment law and will continue to do so on behalf of our members.”