Last October new laws came into force making it unlawful to
discriminate against someone in the workplace on the basis of their
age. An ACAS survey found that just 17% of companies had changed
their approach.
The research also found that 10% of small and medium-sized
companies (SMEs) had treated employees differently because of their
age in the past and had still not changed their practices.
"It's almost a year since the new age discrimination rules were
introduced and employment tribunal complaints have been made," said
Steve Williams, head of equality at ACAS. "Many employers still
haven't realised what this could mean for them."
ACAS has launched a free online course to help companies to
ensure that company practices are compliant with the new law. The
course defines what discrimination is, explains what The Employment
Equality (Age) Regulations mean, what effect it has on recruitment
and how to enable a fair retirement.
The Regulations say that there should be no discrimination on
the basis of age in a company's recruitment, promotion, training
and provision of benefits to staff. The Regulations also introduced
some new duties for firms, such as a duty for employers to consider
an employee’s request to continue working beyond retirement and a
requirement for employers to give written notification to employees
at least six months in advance of their intended retirement date to
allow employees to plan for their retirement
"Acas can help to minimise the risk of prosecution and to make
employment decisions on the basis of talent and skills alone," said
Williams. "Our new age e-learning course can help anyone who feels
they might need help to understand what age discrimination means
and how to prevent discrimination in their workplace."
There are exceptions to the Regulations. The minimum wage is
still lower for those under 21 than those above that age, and some
jobs can still carry age related exclusions if there is a specific
reason for it.
