Case C-45/09: Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 12 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Arbeitsgericht Hamburg (Germany)) — Gisela Rosenbladt v Oellerking Gebäudereinigungsges.mbH (Directive 2000/78/EC — Discrimination on the grounds of age — Termination of employment contract on reaching retirement age)
Date: 2010-10-12
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: Germany, demography, economic situation, interpretation of the law, labour market








C_2010346EN.01000901.xml










18.12.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 346/9





Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 12 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Arbeitsgericht Hamburg (Germany)) — Gisela Rosenbladt v Oellerking Gebäudereinigungsges.mbH
(Case C-45/09) (1)

(Directive 2000/78/EC - Discrimination on the grounds of age - Termination of employment contract on reaching retirement age)
2010/C 346/14
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Arbeitsgericht Hamburg

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Gisela Rosenbladt

Defendant: Oellerking Gebäudereinigungsges.mbH

Re:

Reference for a preliminary ruling — Arbeitsgericht Hamburg — Interpretation of Articles 1 and 2(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16) — Prohibition of discrimination based on age — Provision of a collective agreement declared generally applicable, providing for the automatic termination of the employment contract on the employee's attaining the age of 65 years, irrespective of the economic, social or demographic situation or the actual situation on the employment market

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 6(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude a national provision such as Paragraph 10(5) of the General Law on equal treatment (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz), under which clauses on automatic termination of employment contracts on the ground that the employee has reached the age of retirement are considered to be valid, in so far as, first, that provision is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim relating to employment policy and the labour market and, second, the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. The implementation of that authorisation by means of a collective agreement is not, as such, exempt from any review by the courts but, in accordance with the requirements of Article 6(1) of that directive, must itself pursue a legitimate aim in an appropriate and necessary manner;










2.


Article 6(1) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude a measure such as the automatic termination of employment contracts of employees who have reached retirement age, set at 65, provided for by Paragraph 19(8) of the framework collective agreement for employees in the commercial cleaning sector (Allgemeingültiger Rahmentarifvertrag für die gewerblichen Beschäftigten in der Gebäudereinigung);










3.


Articles 1 and 2 of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as meaning that they do not preclude a Member State from declaring a collective agreement containing a clause on the automatic termination of employment contracts, like that at issue in the main proceedings, to be of general application, provided that it does not deprive employees who have reached retirement age of the protection from discrimination on grounds of age conferred on them by those provisions.






(1)  OJ C 102, 1.5.2009.