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Age Discrimination Top Tips – Are You at Risk of Employment Disputes?
 Is your business risking expensive
employment disputes by failing to meet the
age discrimination laws that came into force
in October 2006?
New research from ACAS suggests that only
17% of small businesses have made changes to
meet the regulations, with many businesses
incorrectly thinking they meet the
regulations.
Acas Chair Rita Donaghy said: “These results
are worrying as they highlight a potential
cost timebomb in smaller companies in terms
of potential tribunal cases, because the age
laws have not been considered. Age
discrimination can affect all employees,
young and old and to comply can be very
simple and quick.
We are urging businesses to act now, helping
them to put in place policies that minimise
the risk of prosecution and to make
employment decisions on the basis of talent
and skills alone.“
Key findings include:
Knowledge gap
Two-thirds of employers in the survey
thought that they were fairly or very well
informed about the age discrimination
regulations.
However under 30% of all the employers in
the survey gave a correct response to a
question about whether it is still lawful to
have an age at which employees are expected
to retire.
No change
Only 17% have made some change to their
recruitment or employment practices in
response to the regulations. Organisations
employing fewer than 10 people were the
least likely to have made any changes in
response to the new law: only 6% had done
so.
Previous discrimination
One in 10 SMEs in the survey had
previously treated people differently on the
basis of age and had NOT made changes to
their practices in response to the
regulations.
Acas has over 30 years’ expertise in good
employment practice. Its guidance – Age
and the workplace – is available free
online from the Acas website (www.acas.org.uk).
If employers or employees need further help,
they can call the helpline on 08457 47 47 47
for free confidential advice or register
online for one of Acas’ training courses,
which are available throughout Britain.
The employer guidance covers the key issues,
including training, equal opportunities,
recruitment, promotion, performance
appraisals, sickness pay, conditions,
benefits, redundancy, pensions and
retirement. It will help employers to
recognise that being age-positive is a
business advantage, not just a legal
requirement.
There are some simple steps that companies
can take to overcome age bias in the
workplace:
Recruitment advertisements – avoid
specifying length of experience as this
disadvantages certain age groups
Application forms – ask for date of birth on
monitoring forms only and use skills based
forms
Selection procedures – train managers to
avoid stereotypes
Training – make sure it is open to all
employees
Performance appraisal – set the same
standards regardless of age
Redundancy policy – review your policies:
using length of service to select employees
for redundancy is likely to be
discriminatory
Equality policy – add age to your current
policy.
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