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Coming of age - Updates regarding age discrimination in the workplace

23 March 2007

Recent changes to The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2007 will come into force on 6 April 2007.

Notable aspects of these amendments are:

• A redundancy dismissal will be unfair if the reason for selection is exercising, or seeking to exercise, his or her right to be accompanied, or to accompany another, at a meeting to request working beyond the intended date of retirement;

• In an addition to the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the fixed 13-week period of conciliation following an Employment Tribunal claim is no longer a requirement for age discrimination claims, bringing the ruling inline with other discrimination jurisdictions. The now unlimited period will allow the chance for a resolution to continue until after a hearing. Bearing in mind that ACAS had already been treating age claims as if they were already unlimited, this particular change will have little practical effect on employers or individuals.

These amendments will not be adding any additional administrative burdens on businesses and are purely technical changes to the regulations which came into force last October, which made it unlawful to discriminate against workers, employees, job applicants, students or trainees on the basis of their age or perceived age.