New laws may damn some key workers – Articles – agediscrimination.info

Certain terms and conditions around pensions and insured perks mean employers may be reluctant to retain staff over 65 years who they would have kept on before new age laws were introduced. James Davies, joint head of employment and incentives at Lewis Silkin explores the issue.

Age discrimination laws are aimed primarily at tackling the premature dismissal of older workers and stereotypical age-based assumptions in recruitment.

The most difficult challenges for employers, however, are not in these areas but around certain employee benefits. Perks linked to service discriminate indirectly on grounds of age, as shorter serving staff will generally be younger, and so will be lawful only if justified.

Click here to view the full article

This article first appeared in Employee Benefits Magazine in September 2006

Back to top