Age discrimination is rife in British businesses, according to new research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The CIPD survey, undertaken together with the Chartered Management Institute among 2682 managers and personnel professionals, revealed that 59% reported that they have been personally disadvantaged at work because of their age, 48% had suffered age discrimination through job applications while 39% believed their chances of promotion have been hindered by age discrimination. Perhaps most disturbingly, 22% of managers and personnel professionals surveyed admitted to discriminating by age when weighing up applicants.
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations first outlined in July and due to come into effect from October 2006, will make age discrimination at work illegal. The regulations cover direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation and employers can be held responsible for the actions of their employees in all four cases. The regulations will ban all retirement ages below 65, unless they can be objectively justified, will compel employers to consider requests from staff to work beyond retirement age and will remove the current upper age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.
Stuart McKellar, Director of Honiton based human resource specialists HR Advantage, said "Employers must now consider whether their recruitment policies are successful in attracting a mixed age workforce and whether key personnel decisions are being affected by using age as a factor. Current demographic trends confirm there are fewer younger people in the job market. For example, the number of first year students over 30 doing first degrees rose by over 50% between 1999 and 2003/04. Employers must now ensure that their recruitment policies attract older, as well as younger people".
"Employers should have a procedure in place so that age discrimination in the recruitment process is treated in exactly the same way as sex or racial discrimination" advises Stuart. "They must consider whether decisions taken in the recruitment process can be legally justified".
Stuart McKellar warns "Whilst the maximum compensatory award in cases of unfair dismissal is limited to £58,000 there is no maximum award in cases of discrimination! With tribunal awards and settlements continuing to rise, increasing and more demanding legislation and employees increasingly aware of their rights, it's vital that employers obtain expert advice. HR Advantage, with a team ofhuman resource experts including employment lawyers, helps employers get it right every time".
