In a landmark court ruling in April 2014, relating to age
discrimination in the workplace the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane imposed
penalties on a restaurant and its directors for terminating the employment of a
worker on his sixty fifth birthday: Fair
Work Ombudsman v Theravanish Investments Pty Ltd & Ors [2014] FCCA
1170.
The employee had worked for the restaurant since 1996 as a
full time employee. Upon returning from long service leave in 2011, he was told
he would be placed on part-time employment.
In the lead up to his sixty fifth birthday on 5 September 2011 the
employer wrote to the worker stating that his employment would cease at that
age and that it did not employ people who had reached 65 years.
The statements were clear breaches of section 351 of the
Fair Work Act, which prohibits employers taking adverse action against
employees because of, amongst other things, their age.
The decision acts as a warning to employers and a signal to
employees that the laws to protect them at work will be enforced.
Questions about this article or about employment and workplace matters, our specialist employment and workplace relations team provide advice in all matters related to employment law.
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