Improved rights on transfer

Power v Regent Security Services [2007] EWCA Civ 1188

In delivering the judgment of the court, Lord Justice Mummery stated that it had ‘far-reaching consequences for employers and the workforce generally’. The claimant alleged that he was dismissed in breach of the Employment Rights Act 1996. When his employment was transferred to Regent Security Services, a new contract was negotiated raising his retirement age from 60 to 65 years old. Following the entry into force of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, he could not summarily be forced to retire until he reached 65 and could bring an unfair dismissal claim under the Act. The company claimed that the consensual variation was void and that it was entitled to impose retirement on the claimant.