Addressing age stereotyping against older workers in employment: The CJEU and UK approach
International Journal of Law and Management
ISSN: 1754-243X
Article publication date: 16 March 2020
Issue publication date: 22 April 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on an analysis of direct age discrimination cases by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the UK courts and employment tribunals over an 11-year period. The paper focusses upon age stereotyping towards older workers and analyses whether it is endorsed at the European level and/or national level.
Design/methodology/approach
This research has analysed a sample of 100 employment tribunal judgments concerning direct age discrimination together with 28 CJEU decisions on direct age discrimination.
Findings
This paper highlights that there are a number of cases in which age stereotyping has been endorsed at the CJEU level. By contrast, the UK courts and employment tribunals have adopted a more robust approach.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is that it only considers case law from the European Court and the influence on the UK case law, without analysing the eventual decisions of the other EU member states.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the debate with regard to the approach of the CJEU and the UK courts and employment tribunals in tackling age stereotyping and is the first to examine the influence the CJEU decisions has had on the UK jurisprudence over the period studied.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Professor Carole McCartney and Ana Speed for their helpful comments on this research.
Citation
Bengtsson, L. (2019), "Addressing age stereotyping against older workers in employment: The CJEU and UK approach", International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 62 No. 1, pp. 67-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-01-2019-0019
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited