As from today, Sunday 1 October 2006, The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 will protect workers of all ages from discrimination in the work place by giving important new rights and responsibilities to every employee and business in Britain.
The Regulations outlaw unjustified age discrimination in employment and vocational training. They apply to all individuals in work or seeking work or access to training, to all employers, and to all providers of vocational guidance. The regulations include a number of exemptions such as, in relation to retirement and service related benefits, and provide for other differences of treatment if they can be objectively justified.
The Regulations prohibit direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, victimisation, instructions to discriminate and harassment. Further details of which can be found on our Legislation News pages by clicking the following link:
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling commented:
"Ageism is discrimination, pure and simple and we're putting a stop to it. From today it will be against the law for workers to miss out on recruitment, promotion or training because of prejudice about their age.
" As a country we are getting older. In 15 years, the over-50s will make up more than a third of the population. Casting a whole generation to one side makes no sense. The individual loses, the company loses and the economy loses a wealth of talent and experience. What matters is the person, their skills and abilities not their birth certificate.
"We are determined to create an economy where the best person for the job is the best person. These measures will help deliver that."
The regulations (which will not affect the age at which people can claim their state pension) will:
- End age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training
- Ban unjustified retirement ages of below 65
- Remove the current age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights
They will also introduce:
- A right for employees to request working beyond retirement age and a duty on employers to consider that request
- A new requirement for employers to 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.
