Businesses are being advised to get their house in order or be at risk of encouraging age discrimination unwittingly in the workplace according to an employment solicitor at Massers.
There will be a considerable number of employers who currently have policies and procedures in place, and a workplace culture that will be contrary to the discrimination law. In many instances, an aggrieved employee will have grounds to issue proceedings in an Employment Tribunal.
Angela Shaw at Massers said: The age discrimination law is not one year old and yet there are reports* which estimate claims for age discrimination could cost businesses as much as £12 million in compensation.
This suggests some businesses are ignoring the law, unintentional or otherwise. Employers can no longer afford to simply be complacent.
Massers has identified seven areas where employers may fall foul of the age discrimination laws.
· Redundancy policy: Organisation must not choose to make workers redundant based on their length of service. The new age discrimination legislation has removed the upper age limit entitlement for a statutory redundancy payment.
· Recruitment ads: job adverts should not ask for length of experience
· Job Application forms: Avoid asking for date of birth and focus on skills rather than length of experience
· Staff appraisals: use a standard benchmark for assessing performance not based on age
· Job interviews: ensure interviewers do not pigeonhole people by age. Businesses are legally responsible for the decisions of workers who discriminate.
· Anti discrimination policy: add age discrimination to company employment policies and the generally accepted code of conduct in the workplace.
· Training and benefits: ensure no one is excluded because of age
If a worker believes they have been discriminated against due to their age they should seek advice.
