Our Pension scheme for operational staff enables them to retire at 50, if they have 25 years service, and then draw their pension and be re-employed. The rules of the scheme state employees must retire to gain access to their benefits, retirement constitutes a break in service, and that re-employment is at our discretion not an automatic right.

We have received a circular from the Department of Communities and Local Government which states that the rules of the national scheme will not be amended given the change in pension’s rules in April 2006.

My question is can we re-employ on fixed term contracts or would this be discriminatory given age discrimination legislation.

rachel haake