The outcome of an employment appeal tribunal will determine whether more than 1,000 former police officers are entitled to payouts worth millions of pounds.
A total of 1,086 former senior police officers from forces across England and Wales were forced to retire under regulation A19 and their employment lawyers are claiming compensation on the grounds of age discrimination.
Regulation A19 was introduced following government spending cuts to policing in October 2010. It enabled police forces to retire officers who had a rank below chief officer and had worked for the force for 30 years or more. In total, 1,335 senior officers were forced to retire.
The forced retirements were said to be “in the general interests of efficiency”.
The High Court ruled in July 2013 that regulation A19 was lawful, but in February last year 250 officers filed an age discrimination claim against five of the forces involved. The claim was successful – but the forces appealed.
If their appeal is unsuccessful, the compensation claims will affect 15 forces across England and Wales and could amount to millions of pounds.
A BBC investigation revealed that the 1,335 forced retirements saved £66m in wages but that pension lump sums paid to the officers amounted to £157m. The pension costs, however, were taken from the national Police Pension Fund account and were not paid by the individual forces.
Of the 55 officers who have been forced to retire from Cleveland Police force since 2010, 49 have brought forward age discrimination claims. The difference between the wages saved and pension costs were not made available.
Macks’ employment solicitors in Darlington can provide legal advice and support in all areas of employment law, including age discrimination claims. Macks’ employment lawyers can also deal with other discrimination at work claims, settlement agreements, unfair dismissal, and wider issues with your employment. Our employment solicitors in Darlington can be contacted on 01325 389800. Consultations can be arranged in Darlington, or at our other offices in Middlesbrough and Redcar.
