This guidance note, the final in a series of four on age discrimination, looks at the new law in relation to dismissal and retirement. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (S1 2006/1031) will outlaw unjustified indirect and direct discrimination at all stages of the employment relationship, up to and including its end. To view the…

Dinah Rose, barrister of Blackstone Chambers, considers the particular impact of the age regulations on law firms and their treatment of partners, associates and trainees – from recruitment to pay (including lockstep), promotion and retirement. Follow this link to read Dinah’s paper. Back to top

This guidance note, the second in a series of four on age, concentrates on age discrimination issues in recruitment. Directive 2000/78/EC provides a general framework for member states to combat – among other things – age discrimination. Article 3 states that the Directive applies in relation to “conditions for access to employment…including selection criteria and…

This opinion was given in a Spanish case, where a provision of national law is being challenged as incompatible with the Directive on age discrimination. The law in question allows collective agreements to include clauses for compulsory retirement. These clauses are lawful where the only conditions for compulsory retirement are that the employee has reached…

Some of the difficulties with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 have been raised in a House of Lords debate on 25 October 2006. Baroness Howe of Idlicote questioned the effect of the Regulations on the provision of insured health benefits for employees. The Employers Forum on Age has recently urged the government to consider…

Despite an apparent lacuna in the age regulations, ACAS will provide a full conciliation service in age discrimination claims. Under employment tribunals rules (see rule 22, schedule 1 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004)) ACAS officers are obliged to seek to help parties reach a settlement of the claim. The…

The government has launched the promised consultation on amending the pension provisions of the age regulations to make them ‘clearer and more operable by schemes and employers’. New amending regulations have been published, which aim to expand the pension exemptions in the main Age Regulations, reflecting the DWP’s intention to allow pension schemes to continue…

More time for pensions Fri Sep 29 00:00:00 BST 2006 … The pensions aspects of the new Regulations have been postponed for two months. They will now take effect on 1 December 2006, but there are likely to be some changes to the provisions before then. Should insurance benefits be exempted from the age regulations? Fri…

Mr Cunningham was asked questions which related to his age at an early stage of the interview process including, on the application form, questions about his living arrangements (’living with parents/renting/mortgaged accommodation’), ‘number of children’, ‘age’ and ‘date of birth’. He provided incorrect information, objecting that the questions were ‘irrelevant and invasive’, and was not…

Ageism laws are changing, drastically, and they are affecting schools in some very specific ways. Hazel Oliver, a partner in law firm Lewis Silkin, explains how to make sure your practices are legal. The new law on age discrimination comes into force this month. The law covers both old and young workers who are disadvantaged…