Age discrimination - a step closer to legislation

Age discrimination proposals are being put to Parliament.

by Richard Williams, part of thePublican.com's legal team of experts from London solicitors Joelson Wilson​

While the government is not required to implement the EC directive which will outlaw age discrimination until December 2006, a private member's bill will have had its second reading in Parliament by the time you read this article.

If the bill is passed, then this will implement the directive in England and make age discrimination illegal. This would not be good news for the government, which is likely to attempt to stall the implementation of the directive until the very last minute.

The bill may not be passed but whatever happens, it is clear that changes are on the way and employers need to be prepared for what will undoubtedly be one of the major employment issues of this decade.

As large-scale employers in the UK, the legislation will be particularly important to publicans and pub companies. For example, a pub chain with a young and stylish image may currently advertise for barstaff "under 30", to fit in with the age group of their customers.

While such advertisements are currently acceptable, this will change once age discrimination becomes illegal. Job advertisements will no longer be able to refer to age requirements (although there is likely to be a defence where the sale of alcohol is involved, if those under 18 are prevented from applying for bar jobs).

If, in the example given above, a person of 50 years old applied for a bar job at a style bar and was refused the job, he or she could claim against the company on the basis of age discrimination. The potential employee would have to prove that he did not get the job due to his or her age and was therefore discriminated against.

The proposals will also make it illegal to dismiss an employee simply because they have reached retirement age. If an individual over the normal retirement age is dismissed from a job, an employer may have a claim brought against it on the basis of age discrimination. To defend the claim, the employer would have to show that the dismissal of the individual was based on a factor other than age.

While these proposals are afoot, it would clearly be in the interests of companies and individuals to review their employment policies and advertisements now, to ensure that their policies comply with the proposed legislation.