MANDATORY RETIREMENT

WHEREAS, mandatory retirement at any age usually constitutes discrimination on the basis of age,

WHEREAS, this discrimination is not generally practiced at the highest levels of business or government employment, but is confined to middle and lower levels,

WHEREAS, while recognizing the need to weed out incompetence and the need for mechanisms for this purpose, no person should be denied the right to work solely or largely on the basis of age, which frequently becomes an excuse for worker replacement at considerably lower pay,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

Mandatory retirement on the basis of age violates the basic human right of an individual to work;

Retirement should normally be voluntary without jeopardizing existing pension rights, following a previously fixed and stated period of work;

Industries, government and organizations should develop objective measures of work competence;

No person shall be excluded from any employment solely or largely on the basis of age.

Adopted by the American Ethical Union Assembly at the St. Louis Society, St. Louis, Missouri, 1986.

Source: AEU 78th Annual Assembly - Resolutions Memo [job20scan]

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