Abercrombie & Fitch Italia (Social policy - Equal treatment in employment and occupation - Age : Judgment) [2017] EUECJ C-143/16

Preliminary ruling on whether Article 21 of the Charter and Article 2(1), Article 2(2)(a) and Article 6(1) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as precluding a provision which authorises an employer to conclude an on-call contract with a worker of under 25 years of age, whatever the nature of the services to be provided, and to dismiss that worker as soon as he reaches the age of 25 years. The court ruled that the provision was not precluded.

The Claimant, who was an on-call worker, claimed that he had been discriminated against by reason of his age when his employer terminated his employment once he had reached the age of 25. The question the Italian court asked the EJEU to determine was:

Is the rule of national law set out in Article 34 of Legislative Decree No 276/2003, according to which an on-call employment contract may, in all circumstances, be concluded in respect of services provided by persons under 25 years of age, contrary to the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of age referred to in Directive 2000/78 and Article 21(1) of the Charter?

The court ruled that the provision was not precluded since that provision pursues a legitimate aim of employment and labour market policy and the means laid down for the attainment of that objective are appropriate and necessary.

Read the full text of the case on Bailii here

Published: 20/07/2017 10:40

Sign up for free email alerts

Email address
First name
Last name
Receive daily
Receive weekly
I agree to this site's terms and conditions

message