Age Discrimination regulations to come into force

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 have been approved by Parliament and will come into force on 1st October 2006. These Regulations implement the final part of the EC Employment Discrimination Directive into UK law.

The basic purpose of the Regulations is to outlaw age discrimination in the workplace. They are expected to have a very wide impact and all employers could be affected to some extent. Similar legislation was introduced in Ireland in 1999 and research there now suggests that over 20% of claims to employment tribunals in Ireland are related to age discrimination.

In particular, the Regulations will have the following impact:

1. The Regulations will make it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age at all levels of employment, including recruitment, selection, training and promotion.
2. All forms of age discrimination in employment will be banned, whether by way of direct or indirect discrimination, victimisation or harassment.
3. The age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights will be removed.
4. A national default retirement age of 65 will be introduced. An employer must be able to justify a retirement below this age.
5. Employers will have to notify employees of proposed retirement at least six months before retirement is due.
6. Employees will be able to make a request to their employers to work beyond their proposed retirement date. The employer will have to follow a procedure and consider such requests. If the request is refused, the employee will have a right to appeal.
7. The age limits for Statutory Sick Pay, Maternity Pay and Paternity Pay will be removed.

In practice, the Regulations will mean that all job adverts must be age neutral, and the calibre of the candidate should be the focus of adverts, not the age or the years of experience. Training must be open to employees of all ages. More senior people must be given the opportunity to train and develop with their younger colleagues. Age must not be an issue when an employee is appraised or evaluated.

Employers should use the time between now and October 2006 to review their contracts, policies and procedures to ensure that they comply with the new Regulations.

To find out about the recent changes to Annual Leave and Holiday Pay, please click here.

For further information please contact: Alison Gow
 

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