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Age Discrimination Legislation - information and help for employers and individuals

From 1 October 2006, new laws protect workers from age discrimination. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees, trainees or job seekers because of their age and ensure that all workers, regardless of age, have the same rights in terms of training and promotion.

What the regulations cover

The regulations cover direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and include all workers and those taking part in or applying for employment-related training including further and higher education courses.

• A national default retirement age of 65 means that employers can no longer force someone to retire before then - unless objectively justified where there is a genuine occupational requirement. For example, the role of a character in a play or film, or the serving of alcohol. The test is not an easy one, but it means that in some circumstances there may be practices, policies or procedures that have an age related aspect to them, but it will be proportionate and legitimate to do so. It will be necessary for employers to provide evidence if challenged; assertions alone will not be enough.
• All employees will have the right to request to work beyond the age of 65 or any other retirement age (if there is one) set by the company, and employers will have a duty to consider, although not to accept, such a request. This will involve an employee meeting with their employer to discuss the request. An employee will have a right of appeal if they are dissatisfied with the outcome of the meeting. This policy will be reviewed in 2011.
• Employers must give at least six months notice to employees about their intended retirement date so that individuals can plan better for retirement, and be confident that "retirement" is not being used as cover for unfair dismissal.
• There is no longer an upper age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy. Older workers have the same rights as younger workers to claim unfair dismissal or receive a redundancy payment, unless there is a genuine retirement.
• The regulations allow pay and non-pay benefits to continue which depend on length of service requirements of 5 years or less or which recognise and reward loyalty and experience and motivate staff.
• Age limits are removed for statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and statutory paternity pay, so that the legislation for all four statutory payments applies in exactly the same way.
• Lower and upper age limits in the statutory redundancy scheme are removed, but will leave the current age-banded system in place.
• The regulations provide exemptions for many age-based rules in occupational pension schemes. The regulations do not affect the age at which people can claim their state pension.

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What to do

Employers should revise their recruitment and retention policies, as they will no longer be allowed to use age as a consideration in employment, promotion or retirement decisions. They must also update their equality policy to include age, and all staff should be made aware of the implications of the regulations.

TOOLS

Acas guidance and training courses

Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) is the nominated agency to provide advice on age issues. Acas offers free, confidential and impartial advice on all employment rights issues. You can call the Acas helpline on 08457 47 47 47 from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday. Or visit www.acas.org.uk

Age and the workplace, a guide for employers - booklet (PDF - 563KB)
Age and the workplace, a guide for individuals - booklet (PDF - 141KB)
What the regulations mean for individuals

Acas are running a series of Age Discrimination training courses for employers.

Summary fact-sheet

20 key facts your business needs to know about age legislation

Regulations in full

The Regulations are available on the Stationery Office website. Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (PDF - 267KB)

Examples of Letters

• Letter informing employee of their retirement date (PDF - 69KB)
• Letter informing employee of a meeting to discuss a request not to retire (PDF - 72KB)
• Letter confirming retirement on the intended date (PDF - 63KB)
• Letter to an employee notifiying the result of their appeal (PDF - 60KB)
• Letter to an employee confirming new retirement date (PDF - 60KB)

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Example of an age bias-free application form

Age bias-free application form (PDF - 125KB) produced by the Employers Forum on Age

Business check-list

Removing ageism - make it your business (PDF - 224KB) - A quick check-list help you measure your awareness and offering steps to take to eradicate ageism from your workplace.

Age legislation factsheets

The following DTI factsheets cover broad aspects of the regulations:

Overview (PDF - 18KB) - Nearly a third of the labour force will be over 50 by 2020. Businesses increasingly need to recognise the benefits of age diversity in the workplace.

Objective Justification (PDF - 18KB) - Differences of treatment on the grounds of age may sometimes be justified. However, employers will not be able to make arbitrary decisions, which are not supported by evidence.

Occupational Pensions (PDF - 18KB) - Pensions rules are largely unaffected. The new age discrimination laws aim to disrupt occupational pension arrangements as little as possible. They do not apply to state pensions, which will be completely unaffected. Update: Additional two months for pension schemes to adjust to age discrimination rules

Redundancy (PDF - 18KB) - The Government is removing the lower and upper age limits in the statutory redundancy payments scheme.

Retirement (PDF - 28KB) - New procedures will enable a constructive dialogue between employers and employees who want to continue working after retirement age.

Transitional Arrangements For Retirement (PDF - 27KB) - Transitional arrangements will apply to retirements from 1 October 2006 to 31 March 2007. Procedures are in place for ensuring retirement dismissals are fair for employees who are due to retire on or after 1 October 2006, when the new laws come into force. The procedures will also protect employers from unnecessary or unfair dismissal claims.

Service-Related Benefits (PDF - 16KB) - The new laws will allow employers to continue using length of service criteria to reward staff, as long as the period of service is not more than five years. However, employers can use length of service criteria that exceeds five years if they can justify their actions.

Vocational Training (PDF - 26KB) - Training providers will not be able to set age limits for entry to training, unless they can prove there is a real need to apply limits.

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Employer case studies

Case study examples of some companies where staff work beyond age 65.

Impact on pensions

DTI guidance on the impact of age regulations on pension schemes (PDF - 160KB)

FURTHER GUIDANCE

DTI website: Equality and Diversity: Age Discrimination in Employment and Vocational Training

Age to Z glossary

Date: 19 Oct 06

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