AGE DISCRIMINATION

Who is protected from age discrimination?

Everybody is protected against being treated unfavourably because of their age, no matter what their age is. Protection is not limited to particularly young or old people.

The Equality Act also protects people who belong to an ‘age group’. The law does not say how wide an age group is, but ACAS gives examples including under-20s, over 50s, and generational terms such as millennials or gen Z.

Because discrimination can be by perception, discrimination can be based on the age somebody is perceived to be, even if that is not their actual age.

Exceptions

There are some exceptions where it is legal to take account of a person’s age:

When paying minimum wage, as the rate varies with age.

When implementing an occupational retirement age.

In statutory redundancy pay, which is based on age and length of service. Contractual redundancy pay can legally follow the same rules.

To meet legal requirements – for example, requiring employees aged 18 or over if the role involves selling alcohol, or offering different work and hours to children under school-leaving age to meet strict regulations.

Offering additional pay and benefits linked to up to 5 years of service.

There may also be times where it is acceptable to discriminate to take positive action or because age is an occupational requirement. Employers can also justify indirect discrimination if it is proportionate, appropriate and necessary to a legitimate aim.

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Get in touch for advice about age discrimination, including help resolving disputes or avoiding them altogether.

COMMON RISKS

Menopause

Treating women unfavourably because of menopause could be age discrimination, as menopause affects women of a specific age group. In the Scottish case A v Bonmarche, the tribunal found that A had been treated less favourably than someone who was not a female of menopausal age. Her manager "had created a hostile environment for her and that this was related to her status as a woman going through the menopause.”

Job adverts

Discrimination laws also protect job applicants so it is important to consider the language used in recruitment. Language that suggests the employer is recruiting only a certain age group, for example ‘new graduates’, could be discriminatory. Of course, there may be times where this can be justified as part of a legitimate aim – for example, it may be necessary to ask for somebody with experience, even though this rules out young people starting their career.

Harassment

Offensive or ageist language in the workplace can amount to harassment by creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, even if it is unintentional. Given that age discrimination protects age groups, banter about certain generations could easily cause trouble.

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