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Age Discrimination

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... last interview and finds a birthday card signed by all the office staff 'Happy 50th'. The card is one of those comedy style cards with a picture of an elderly ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Age Discrimination


1
Age Discrimination
  • Group 4
  • Carol
  • Rachel
  • Aselle

2
Ageism is the last form of legal discrimination
it is often invisible and endemic in our
culture(Age Concern)
3
By 2010, almost 40 of the workforce will be
aged 45 or over
4
Topics of Discussion
  • Legislation
  • Impact
  • Case study

5
Legislation
  • The Government will implement age discrimination
    legislation by the end of 2006.
  • The deadlines that were agreed in the Employment
    Directive
  • 2003 for sexual orientation and religion and
  • 2006 for age.

6
Legislation
  • The Directive requires all EU Member States to
    introduce legislation prohibiting direct and
    indirect discrimination at work on the grounds of
    age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, and
    disability.

7
Legislation
  • In preparing for the implementation of the new
    legislation, the Government has released a Code
    of practice for employers on age discrimination.
  • This code is at present voluntary.

8
Impact
  • Recruitment
  • Pay and benefits
  • Harassment
  • Retirement

9
Recruitment
  • It will no longer be possible to specify or refer
    to age limit in job advertisements, e.g.
  • between 18 25 years old,
  • "dynamic", "energetic", "senior" or "mature,
  • certain number of years experience required.

10
Recruitment
  • Age limit for a position will only be lawful if
    there is a genuine occupational requirement
    ("GOR") or if it is objectively justified.
  • There are very few situations where age is likely
    to be regarded as a GOR.

11
Pay and benefits
  • Certain practices indirectly discriminate against
    younger employees
  •  e.g. pension, increased holiday etc requiring a
    minimum period of service.

12
Harassment
  • When the new legislation comes into force,
    harassment on the grounds of age will become
    unlawful.
  • At present, jokes about age are not generally
    looked down upon as being unacceptable in the
    same way as jokes about race or disability.

13
Retirement
  • The Government is currently considering what
    action to take regarding retirement age.
  • Abolishing or increasing the age for mandatory
    retirement will still mean that employees are
    able to retire when they want.
  • Employees will not be forced to work for longer
    or to retire earlier than they wish.
  • Eligibility for a full pension should not be
    confused with retirement.

14
Retirement
  •  Under the new legislation, it will still be
    lawful for the employer to set mandatory
    retirement if it can be objectively justified.
  • The test for justification will be very
    stringent.

15
Case study 
  • Considering the possible implications of the age
    discrimination legislation.
  • A day in the life of ABC (a firm).

16
Case study
  • Rachel, the HR manager, placed an advertisement
    in the local newspaper
  • Looking for a young dynamic professional under
    25 for the graduate recruitment scheme.

17
Case study
  • Under the new legislation, this type of job
    advertisement would be discriminatory.
  • In the Republic of Ireland there has been age
    legislation since 1998 and case law shows how
    this type of advertisement would fall foul of the
    law.
  • When Ryanair advertised for a young, dynamic,
    professional evidence revealed that none of the
    28 candidates who applied for the job was over
    40. In their defence, Ryanair claimed that
    young could refer to being young at heart.
    This defence failed.

18
Case study
  • The Employers Forum on Age recommends that
  • Employers immediately remove any
  • explicit age criteria, e.g. no older than 25
    years and
  • indirect criteria, e.g. no more than 2 years
    post-graduate experience.

19
Case study
  • While interviewing a candidate who looks about
    35, Rachel asks
  • How do you feel about taking directions and
    instruction from younger people?
  •  Under the new legislation, this type of question
    is likely to be discriminatory.

20
Case study
  • The second candidate 21 years old according to
    his CV.
  • Rachel talked about the benefits that went with
    the job and said You can join our pension
    scheme when you are 25.
  •  Employers must beware this may be indirect age
    discrimination.

21
Case study
  • Rachel returns to her desk after the last
    interview and finds a birthday card signed by all
    the office staff Happy 50th. The card is one of
    those comedy style cards with a picture of an
    elderly woman on the front with a joke inside
    about not yet being over the hill.
  • Mocking someone about their age in the workplace
    may amount to harassment.

22
Case study
  • Just before heading out of the office, Rachel is
    called in to see the boss.
  • She is told that she is being dismissed.
  • Rachel has heard on the grapevine that the firm
    is seeking a young and dynamic image.
  • Rachels boss is in fact seeking a younger
    workforce. He believes that older workers are
    just not up to the job and thinks that as Rachel
    has taken a number of sick days this year and
    that things are only going to get worse.

23
Case study
  • Rachels employer has discriminated on the basis
    on Rachels age.
  • It is highly unlikely that he will be able to
    justify imposing an age limit for the human
    resource manager position because an age limit
    for a position will only be lawful if there is a
    genuine occupational requirement.
  • Using someones age as the sole reason for their
    dismissal is already unjustifiable and unfair.

24
Sources
  • www.efa.org.uk
  • www.agepositive.co.uk

25
  • Code of practice accessible through the
    agepositive website.
  • This is a voluntary code designed to assist
    employers in preparing for the new legislation.

26
Price Prior can help you to
  • Prepare
  • Age Discrimination policy
  • Review
  • Existing policies in your Companys Handbook
  • Ensure
  • Your Company complies with current legislation
    and ready for new legislation
  • Advise
  • How to avoid unnecessary problems
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