Age Discrimination

1
Age Discrimination

• Group 4
• Carol
• Rachel
• Aselle

2
Ageism is the last form of legal discrimination
it is often invisible and endemic in our
culture(Age Concern)
3
By 2010, almost 40 of the workforce will be
aged 45 or over
4
Topics of Discussion

• Legislation
• Impact
• Case study

5
Legislation

• The Government will implement age discrimination
  legislation by the end of 2006.
• The deadlines that were agreed in the Employment
  Directive
• 2003 for sexual orientation and religion and
• 2006 for age.

6
Legislation

• The Directive requires all EU Member States to
  introduce legislation prohibiting direct and
  indirect discrimination at work on the grounds of
  age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, and
  disability.

7
Legislation

• In preparing for the implementation of the new
  legislation, the Government has released a Code
  of practice for employers on age discrimination.
• This code is at present voluntary.

8
Impact

• Recruitment
• Pay and benefits
• Harassment
• Retirement

9
Recruitment

• It will no longer be possible to specify or refer
  to age limit in job advertisements, e.g.
• between 18 25 years old,
• "dynamic", "energetic", "senior" or "mature,
• certain number of years experience required.

10
Recruitment

• Age limit for a position will only be lawful if
  there is a genuine occupational requirement
  ("GOR") or if it is objectively justified.
• There are very few situations where age is likely
  to be regarded as a GOR.

11
Pay and benefits

• Certain practices indirectly discriminate against
  younger employees
•  e.g. pension, increased holiday etc requiring a
  minimum period of service.

12
Harassment

• When the new legislation comes into force,
  harassment on the grounds of age will become
  unlawful.
• At present, jokes about age are not generally
  looked down upon as being unacceptable in the
  same way as jokes about race or disability.

13
Retirement

• The Government is currently considering what
  action to take regarding retirement age.
• Abolishing or increasing the age for mandatory
  retirement will still mean that employees are
  able to retire when they want.
• Employees will not be forced to work for longer
  or to retire earlier than they wish.
• Eligibility for a full pension should not be
  confused with retirement.

14
Retirement

•  Under the new legislation, it will still be
  lawful for the employer to set mandatory
  retirement if it can be objectively justified.
• The test for justification will be very
  stringent.

15
Case study 

• Considering the possible implications of the age
  discrimination legislation.
• A day in the life of ABC (a firm).

16
Case study

• Rachel, the HR manager, placed an advertisement
  in the local newspaper
• Looking for a young dynamic professional under
  25 for the graduate recruitment scheme.

17
Case study

• Under the new legislation, this type of job
  advertisement would be discriminatory.
• In the Republic of Ireland there has been age
  legislation since 1998 and case law shows how
  this type of advertisement would fall foul of the
  law.
• When Ryanair advertised for a young, dynamic,
  professional evidence revealed that none of the
  28 candidates who applied for the job was over
  40. In their defence, Ryanair claimed that
  young could refer to being young at heart.
  This defence failed.

18
Case study

• The Employers Forum on Age recommends that
• Employers immediately remove any
• explicit age criteria, e.g. no older than 25
  years and
• indirect criteria, e.g. no more than 2 years
  post-graduate experience.

19
Case study

• While interviewing a candidate who looks about
  35, Rachel asks
• How do you feel about taking directions and
  instruction from younger people?
•  Under the new legislation, this type of question
  is likely to be discriminatory.

20
Case study

• The second candidate 21 years old according to
  his CV.
• Rachel talked about the benefits that went with
  the job and said You can join our pension
  scheme when you are 25.
•  Employers must beware this may be indirect age
  discrimination.

21
Case study

• Rachel returns to her desk after the last
  interview and finds a birthday card signed by all
  the office staff Happy 50th. The card is one of
  those comedy style cards with a picture of an
  elderly woman on the front with a joke inside
  about not yet being over the hill.
• Mocking someone about their age in the workplace
  may amount to harassment.

22
Case study

• Just before heading out of the office, Rachel is
  called in to see the boss.
• She is told that she is being dismissed.
• Rachel has heard on the grapevine that the firm
  is seeking a young and dynamic image.
• Rachels boss is in fact seeking a younger
  workforce. He believes that older workers are
  just not up to the job and thinks that as Rachel
  has taken a number of sick days this year and
  that things are only going to get worse.

23
Case study

• Rachels employer has discriminated on the basis
  on Rachels age.
• It is highly unlikely that he will be able to
  justify imposing an age limit for the human
  resource manager position because an age limit
  for a position will only be lawful if there is a
  genuine occupational requirement.
• Using someones age as the sole reason for their
  dismissal is already unjustifiable and unfair.

24
Sources

• www.efa.org.uk
• www.agepositive.co.uk

25

• Code of practice accessible through the
  agepositive website.
• This is a voluntary code designed to assist
  employers in preparing for the new legislation.

26
Price Prior can help you to

• Prepare
• Age Discrimination policy
• Review
• Existing policies in your Companys Handbook
• Ensure
• Your Company complies with current legislation
  and ready for new legislation
• Advise
• How to avoid unnecessary problems