Age discrimination and the law?
Specific age discrimination law forms part of the Equality Act 2010, having been first introduced into the UK in 2006. This Act consolidates all of the other laws on matters of potential discrimination; relating to all of the “protected characteristics” that exist in the legislation, including age. The law places a legal burden not to treat any individual unfairly on the grounds of their age, upon:
- All employers.
- Employer’s organisations.
- Age professional associations.
- Trade unions.
- Occupational pension scheme trustees/managers.
- Vocational training providers.
Individuals are therefore protected against unfair treatment by any of the above in relation to:
- Access to/funding of training.
- Pay and conditions of employment.
- Promotion opportunities.
- Redundancy selection/severance payments and provisions.
- Recruitment.
There are four general classifications of discrimination under the legislation as it stands at the present time. With specific reference to the protected characteristic of age, these are:
1. Direct discrimination
- Where an individual is treated less favourably than another individual purely because of their age.
2. Indirect discrimination
- Where there is a provision, criterion or practice within an organisation that is applied to everyone within that organisation; and
- That same provision, practice or criterion places a particular age group at a disadvantage when compared with another group; and
- An individual within the particular age group is placed at a disadvantage; and
- The organisation cannot show that the provision, practice or criterion to be a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”
3. Associative discrimination
- Where an individual is treated less favourably because they associate with an another individual who is of a particular age
4. Perceptive discrimination
- Where an individual is treated less favourably because of a perception that they are of a particular age, whether they are in fact that age or not.The financial penalties that can be awarded for unfair treatment on the grounds of age are uncapped and are regularly meted out by Employment Tribunals. They also include awards relating to examples of either victimisation and/or harassment.
Victimisation may occur when an individual is treated less favourably because they may have:
- Brought a complaint.
- Supported someone else when they brought a complaint.
- Raised a grievance; or
- Are believed to have done any of the above.
Harassment may be described as:
- Unwanted conduct.
- Relating to an individual’s age.
- Which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity.
- Or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for the individual.
Quest HR can help you to avoid any unwitting discriminatory practices by conducting an Employment / HR Health Check across your organisation. We can ensure that all of your employment policies are legally compliant and that you have minimised the risk, in particular, of any direct or indirect discrimination with regards to all discrimination (including age discrimination).
We can also advise of any circumstance where recruiting employees of a particular age is possible and how you might be able to take positive action, for example, to redress any age imbalance within your staff structure.
Contact us for more information.
