The Federal Constitutional Court clarified that maximum age limits for occupational pension benefits do not violate the general principle of equality. This confirms the jurisdiction of the Federal Labor Court, according to which maximum age limits for occupational pension schemes do not constitute age discrimination or even discrimination against women.

Federal Constitutional Court, Non-acceptance order July 23, 2019 – Case 1 BvR 684/14

The complainant had initially retired from gainful employment due to the birth of her child and subsequently resumed gainful employment at the age of 51 years and four months. At the employer, employees were entitled to company pension benefits from the provident fund on the basis of a benefit plan if they had at least ten years of service and had not yet reached the age of 50 when starting employment. Years of service after the age of 60 were no longer counted. Since the complainant had reached the age of 50 when she started working, the provident fund rejected a pension claim after retirement. The labor courts had rejected the complainant’s claim for provision. The Federal Labor Court based its likewise negative decision substantially on the fact that the indirect discrimination on grounds of age was justified under § 10 sentence 1 and sentence 2, sentence 3 no. 4 General Equal Treatment Act. The complainant considered the Federal Labor Court judgement a violation of the general principle of equality (Article 3(1) of the Constitution), since she suffered disadvantages due to the age limit, which were not be justified. In addition, there was indirect discrimination against women (Article 3(2), (3) sentence 1 of the Constitution) compared with persons who did not have children (Article 3(1) in conjunction with Article 6(1) of the Constitution). The typifying view of the Federal Labor Court, which presumed re-entry into working life after child-rearing periods even before the age of 50, would lack any basis.

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