Up until now, being older has meant greater protection against dismissal. Now the approaching retirement can cost the severance pay.
(Photo: DEEPOL by plainpicture)
Dusseldorf Which is fairer – firing a 40-year-old employee who still has work ahead of him or a 65-year-old who is about to retire? So far, the case law would have been in favor of the older employee in many cases. That should change now.
Employees who felt protected from being fired because of their advanced age must adapt. The judges at the Federal Labor Court (BAG) in Erfurt have reinterpreted the selection criterion “age” in the so-called social selection. A social selection always takes place when, in the event of a dismissal for operational reasons, a decision has to be made as to which of several employees who perform the same job must leave the company and which of them will keep their job.
In the case now decided by the Federal Labor Court, a 65-year-old employee who had worked for her employer since the 1970s filed a complaint. The company had to cut staff as a result of insolvency – 61 of the almost 400 employees were to go, including the plaintiff.
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