Were you ready for 1st October 2006? Have you checked your job ads to ensure they do not refer to ages of staff or use phrases like “youthful” in setting out the person needed to fill a vacancy? Have you recently looked at your retirement ages and hiring policies.

1st October was D Day for the age discrimination legislation. All businesses need to look at their retirement policies. To start with most employees in the UK will have a right to keep working to age 65 even if their employment contract specifies 50, 55, 60, 63 or any other age with a few exceptions such as footballers. Check your contracts now. In addition, even at 65 employees cannot be shown the door. You have an obligation to go through a special procedure before asking them to leave. Although the right to force them to leave remains, Age Concern is challenging this in the courts as age discriminatory.

The new rules do not just apply to discrimination of older people. There may be no good reason why older people are treated differently to the young. Gone are the job ads – age 25 – 30 or those with words such as “young thrusting employees wanted”. Even office jokes about age could be illegal and lead to an age discrimination case at a later date.

In a country with a huge problem over funding pensions, allowing people to work longer should be enormously beneficial but in companies where the old were traditionally moved out to make space for the young, promotion may become an issue and log jams may be caused. Specialist areas like pensions require individual guidance. Call us for advice on how the new rules affect you and your company’s recruitment and advertising policies and procedures.

Call Adam Marshall on 01491 572138 for further information.