Age Discrimination – Recruitment to Retirement

If you are an employer you will need to be aware of the impact of the new Age Discrimination (Employment Equality (Age) Regulation 2006) which came into force on the 1st October 2006.

You may have read or heard about the changes in the media and you may be concerned about the impact that the regulations will have on your business.

The regulations will affect every aspect of employment from recruitment to retirement, including promotion, treatment, training and remuneration. The legislation will also have implications for health and safety, redundancy and pensions.

It is therefore vital that as an employer you are aware of the practical implications of the regulations to avoid any pitfalls and problems that may adversely affect your business. For instance if you fail to follow the new retirement procedures then you could have a claim brought against you for unfair dismissal.

The new legislation means that you need to be careful about for instance advertising a job containing a maximum age limit for recruitment, requiring job applicants to pass a health or fitness test. It is essential that you examine your Application Forms to ensure that they do not ask questions about age or date of birth. You also need to reconsider any rewards for long serve and specified retirement ages. Further, you need to take active steps to prevent harassment in the workplace which could include making derogatory remarks about somebody’s age or hair loss.

The employment team at HilliersHRW can help you through this minefield by providing advice, carrying out an audit of your existing procedures and, if required drafting recruitment and retirement procedures, reviewing any long service schemes that you may have and redrafting your diversity policy to ensure that you comply with the new legislation and do not leave your business exposed to the risk of claims.

If you feel your business would benefit from advice in this area or indeed any other aspect of employment law, including employment contracts, Tribunal claims either potential or ongoing, disciplinary proceedings or any other drafting requirements for employee handbooks or procedures, please contact Philip Ivinson at our Stevenage Office 01438 346000, email pji@hilliershrw.co.uk or Paul Hillier at our Kempston Office 01234 858000, email pah@hilliershrw.co.uk