LETTER: No further labour rights accrued if you work past retirement

In an interesting judgment at the Labour Appeal Court concerning  the retirement age, much of the previous accepted practice and law on the topic has been clarified and to a large degree changed.

Up until a year ago the advice has been that should someone work beyond retirement age, they are in effect working on a new contract with no retirement age. This has been completely debunked by the court.

In a ground-breaking judgment, the Labour Appeal Court specifically stated that if an employer permits an employee to work beyond an agreed or normal retirement age, that does not mean they cannot terminate the employment at a later stage on the grounds of age.

An employer may fairly terminate the contract based on age if there is an agreed or normal retirement age. All of this is very much dependent on whether the contract of employment or the normal retirement age within that workplace has been set. 

Should the employee work beyond that retirement age they do not accrue further rights.

Michael Bagraim
DA shadow deputy employment and labour minister

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