The most recent update on the test case known as Heydey, is that it has now been heard at the European Court of Justice.

Heydey is an arm of Age Concern and have been trying to establish that a mandatory retirement age contravenes EU law. If their claim was successful it would establish that employees have the automatic right to work beyond the age of 65.  At present the right is to "request" to work beyond the age of 65, but Heyday could change this, and therefore affecting millions of employees approaching 65 who may want to continue working.

However the ECJ has determined that having a compulsory retirement age is capable of being justified, and therefore does fall within the scope of the relevant Regulations and Directives. As a result of the ECJ judgment, the case will now return to the High Court and it is expected that a hearing will be later this year.  We will keep you notified of the outcome, and until then our advice is to keep the default retirement age at 65 and ensure that you follow the statutory procedures relating to this.