Gainful occupation when reaching pensionable age?Instruments to further labour market participation rates of the elderly. lessons from the Swedish and the Finnish example

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Monika Schlachter-Voll
• Subject Area: Private Law
• Term: from 2014 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 249919859

While the percentage of employed older workers in Germany gradually increases, the age limit for pension entitlement also increases. As more older workers in fact do work even more of them will have to, and in some cases not only until reaching pensionable age but well beyond this limit. This is sometimes due to their own decision to remain active in their previous usually well rewarded position. On the other hand, especially in the lower paying unstable job market segment older workers pension entitlement can become too low for securing a decent income replacement so that workers may have to stay on for economic reasons. Statistics show that some workers asking to be employed for longer than until reaching pensionable age actually get this opportunity. Nevertheless, offer nowadays are less frequent than need be for meeting demand and this gap is expected to widen considerably in the future.Recent academic research has it that regulation of and legal restrictions to the labour market can contribute to the relative scarcity of job offers to elderly workers. Undertakings in principle interested to keep experienced, trustworthy and knowledgeable personell in employment even after their reaching the relevant age limit maybe shying away from actually offering contract prolongation. Legal restrictions on whom to offer a prolongation, for how long and under which conditions usually stand accused of causing prohibitive effects on working beyond pensionable age. Whether such finding should lead to a modification of the personal scope of antidiscrimination legislation, regulation of fixed term contracts or of dismissal law is primarily a political question to be decided by the legislators. Nevertheless, request in direction of labour law flexibilisation for elder workers have already been put forward.The project herewith proposed will add to the number of possible solutions to the problems of flexicurity for the elderly by means of comparative law. The Nordic countries developed for quite some time practical experiences in balancing the public interest for maintaining a decent standard of pension entitlements by combating problems of an aging society with social partners defending early retirement agreements on the one hand and undertakings not enthusiastic of handling a graying workforce on the other. Most attention was lastly provided to the Swedish model which went up all the way to the CJEU, but also Finland developed strategies for working beyond retirement age. Both countries are not operating labour market regulations merely through statutory provisions but additionally through collective agreements concluded by relatively strong unions. Comparing the current German system to such countries offers the chance of discussing also the best level of regulation: Whereas in Finland regulating through statutes tends to increase, in Sweden collective agreements still enjoy a rather strong position. Both countries have opted for creating incentives for ke

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Sweden
• Participating Persons: Professorin Dr. Ann Numhauser-Henning; Professorin Dr. Birgitta Nyström