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The purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical review of the key jurisprudence of the European Court and to present the argument that a more conservative approach is being adopted when considering the objective justification defence in dismissals by reason of retirement.

A review approach is adopted in the paper, with a primary focus on recent European Court decisions, whilst appreciating existing literature on the position of retirement cases. Attempts were made to draw together the evidence which suggests a shift in approach to objective justification in this context.

The paper reveals that the approach being adopted in retirement cases appears to be devaluing the age discrimination protections, through allowing individual, subjective reasons to justify less favourable treatment, despite the express wording of the Parent Directive precluding such an approach. It is highlighted that this could have damaging practical implications by placing a much lighter burden on employers when arguing objective justification of retirement dismissals.

The paper's main limitation is that it only considers case law from the European Court, without considering the approach adopted in any of the EU member states, where the eventual approach will be decided. However, this paper provides useful analysis of the approach being adopted in the European Court which is the ultimate interpreter of EU law, whilst questioning whether it is the correct approach.

The paper is the first to examine the shifting approach to objective justification in retirement cases.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an analysis of direct age discrimination cases by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the UK courts and employment tribunals over an 11-year period. The paper focusses upon age stereotyping towards older workers and analyses whether it is endorsed at the European level and/or national level.

This research has analysed a sample of 100 employment tribunal judgments concerning direct age discrimination together with 28 CJEU decisions on direct age discrimination.

This paper highlights that there are a number of cases in which age stereotyping has been endorsed at the CJEU level. By contrast, the UK courts and employment tribunals have adopted a more robust approach.

The main limitation is that it only considers case law from the European Court and the influence on the UK case law, without analysing the eventual decisions of the other EU member states.

The paper contributes to the debate with regard to the approach of the CJEU and the UK courts and employment tribunals in tackling age stereotyping and is the first to examine the influence the CJEU decisions has had on the UK jurisprudence over the period studied.

Equality and diversity are generally positioned as special interests, marginal to the mainstream of social policy teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to make the case for shifting equality and diversity out of the margins and into the centre of education for mid career public managers, and offers practical methods for doing so.

The current EU policy framework requires public services to go beyond eliminating discrimination, and to promote equality. The paper suggests that while this offers great opportunities for advancing the cause of social justice, the cultures that predominate in public policy may lead to loss and failure. Academic research and experience demonstrate that these changes are highly complex, touching on issues that are integral to our sense of who we are, and how we relate to each other as educators and students, and as enforcers, beneficiaries and implementers of these policies. The paper touches on deeply held emotions, showing that more exploration of appropriate pedagogical methods is needed.

The paper finds that only by raising issues of equality and diversity to mainstream social policy teaching and learning is there likely to be a shift in thinking and commitment that will encourage integration of equality measures within management and leadership of public.

The paper offers three dimensions of pedagogy for enabling public service managers to engage with diversity and the equality agenda within educational contexts, and offers three illustrations of pedagogic processes that support this learning.

Governments mediate, through their architecture of machinery and policy, access to rights and, by extension, to services. There is limited but growing recognition in both the UK and other European governments that individuals' power to negotiate this access is limited by the structural inequality of groups in certain named categories of disadvantage (inter alia, people with disabilities), and they are adapting their machinery to provide the support they require to ‘level the playing field’. However, intersectionality (identities which cut across these recognised categories of disadvantage) prevents those affected from using such mechanisms effectively. Those whose disability impairs their mental awareness and understanding face an additional barrier. The paper explores how this limits the rights of those with both learning disabilities and mental illness, and looks at some of the ways in which this problem is being addressed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the politicisation of age discrimination in relation to the enactment of anti-discrimination legislation in Finland and Sweden in the early-2000s. By showing how politicians constructed the meaning of age discrimination, it seeks to highlight the drivers of country variation in terms of the implementation of directives from the European Union (EU).

The paper uses a comparative design based on content analyses of parliamentary documents. Theoretically, it uses discursive institutionalism as a starting point but it also builds on previous research/theories on age discrimination.

The findings show that although age was seen as a ground for discrimination in both countries, there was surprisingly little debate about discrimination as societal problem. There was however considerable differences between the countries suggesting that age discrimination was a much more heated subject in Sweden.

Although the analysis focuses on a small part of the policy-making process it highlights drivers (such as political culture) that may cause variation in the ways age discrimination is politicised, even within similar welfare state regimes. It also suggests that more research is needed to fully understand such drivers.

The paper presents examples that can help analysts and the public to deconstruct institutionalised practices of age discrimination and thereby to understand how age discrimination practices may prevail in society.

By analysing the ways in which age discrimination was constructed as a problem within national policy-making frameworks, the paper presents valuable insights as to the sources of country variation in relation to the implementation of EU directives.

This paper aims to consider, from a legal perspective, the problem of housing discrimination which has become an issue of increasing importance in Spanish cities, as in other European cities, especially in the light of recent waves of immigration.

The paper analyzes the various types of housing discrimination and explains what legal reactions are available under European, Spanish and Catalan Law.

The Catalan Right to Housing Act 2007 represents one of the first and most complete European legal reactions against housing discrimination. It includes several articles defining direct and indirect discrimination, harassment (which is considered a form of discrimination) and positive action. This Act must be understood as a national and sectorial application of the European Union (EU) anti‐discrimination directives, specifically the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC).

The paper shows how EU anti‐discrimination directives can be transposed into the domain of housing using a national example.

Because Catalan Law is one of the first and most complete national legislations using European techniques to fight against housing discrimination, it could be used as an inspiration for future new national legislations.

Discusses the long existing and confusing problems of establishing the relationship of who is, and who if not, a dependent worker. Reflects developments which have occurred in British law as it affects the employment field, plus an evaluation and analysis of some of the different types of employment relationships which have evolved by examining, where possible, the status of each of these relationships. Concludes that the typical worker nowadays finds himself in a vulnerable position both economically and psychologically owing to the insecurity which exists.

This article considers the issues raised by the proposed abolition of the mandatory retirement age as a result of the Equal Treatment Directive, 2000/78/EC, and of proposed Age Discrimination in Employment Regulations. It argues that there are a number of distinctive retirement ages, namely, the contractual retirement age, the pensionable retirement age and the actual or normal retirement age. These may coincide or they may occur at different times, but it is only the contractual retirement age that is likely to be abolished by the Regulations. Their effect upon the retirement age will therefore be limited. As part of the research for this article a number of TUC affiliated trade unions were interviewed in order to gain an employee perspective of the issues surrounding the abolition of mandatory retirement ages.

The legal system comprises one of the greatest tools for people with disabilities, in order to ensure and protect their fundamental rights. The present study aimed to focus on the scrutiny of the legal system of the Republic of Cyprus. More specifically, the focus was placed on those laws that refer to the employability of people with disabilities, aiming to present the extent to which disability discrimination at work is prevented in the Republic of Cyprus.

A brief presentation of the laws employed on the prevention of disability discrimination at work worldwide is made; then, a presentation follows on the specific laws employed in the Republic of Cyprus.

The conditions in Cyprus are quite similar compared to the international standards. Cyprus has already introduced numerous laws and regulations regarding the prevention of disability discrimination at work; also, a code of good practice and guidance against disability discrimination at work has been published. However, regardless of the differences between legislation in various countries, the importance of establishing new laws and regulations depends on the extent to which they find application in each society. Therefore, there is an imperative need to set up a national mechanism to monitor the application of these laws and regulations, in order to ensure that discrimination at work is prevented in practice and not only in theory (meaning the establishment of new laws).

The findings of this study are useful for policy makers regarding issues of disability discrimination at work for people with disabilities in the Republic of Cyprus.