Brazier Interiors Business Law Update - Age Discrimination

It is now unlawful to discriminate on grounds of age against those in and seeking employment and vocational training.

Regulations were introduced in October 2006 to combat age discrimination in employment and vocational training.

The regulations apply to all employers in the private and public sectors.

The new legislation provides for a default retirement age of 65. Compulsory retirement ages below 65 are unlawful unless objectively justified. In addition, employees have the right to request to work beyond that age. Employers have a duty to consider such requests.

The regulations affect all areas of employment including:

recruitment, terms and conditions, promotion and transfers.
the provision of training.
the provision of benefits.
dismissal.
retirement.
occupational pensions.

You should check there are no hidden age barriers in your recruitment processes. You must also make sure that your redundancy procedures are based on business needs rather than age and review existing pension schemes in order to identify and remove any unlawful age discrimination.