Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 21 December 2016 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof — Austria) — Daniel Bowman v Pensionsversicherungsanstalt

(Case C-539/15) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Social policy - Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Directive 2000/78/EC - Equal treatment in employment and occupation - Article 2(1) and (2) - Discrimination on grounds of age - Collective labour agreement - Extension of the period of advancement from the first to the second step in the salary scale - Indirect unequal treatment on grounds of age))

(2017/C 053/19)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Oberster Gerichtshof

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Daniel Bowman

Defendant: Pensionsversicherungsanstalt

Operative part of the judgment

Article 2(1) and (2) 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 not precluding a national collective labour agreement, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, by which an employee who benefits from account being taken of periods of school education for the purpose of his classification in the salary steps is subject to a longer period of advancement between the first and second salary step, as long as that extension applies to every employee benefiting from the inclusion of those periods, including retroactively to those having already reached the next steps.

(1)  OJ C 27, 25.1.2016.