Age Discrimination Regulations Not Breached By Service Related Redundancy Selection

The High Court has ruled in Rolls Royce v Unite that using length of service as a redundancy selection criterion can be lawful.

Rolls Royce had entered into collective agreements with the trade union Unite relating to redundancy. These agreements provided that redundancy selection will be based on a points rating system – and as one component of that each employee would receive one point per year of continuous service. There were two unusual features of the case. First, that Rolls Royce rather than the union was arguing this feature of the scheme was unlawful age discrimination. Second, that the case was in the High Court, rather than the Employment Tribunal.

Two parts of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 were at issue: