Experienced HR practitioners required…

…for the Furley Page HR Forum!

Furley Page's Employment Law team set the HR forum up to encourage experienced HR practitioners in a range of sectors to pro-actively debate, and anticipate for planning purposes, the practical implications that changes in employment law might bring. What it’s not is a mere consideration or repetition of the law. While the law forms an important backdrop to the discussion, the forum explores points of social, economic and political interest; often reaching fascinating conclusions!

Hosted by my colleague, Amanda Okill, and me, we have recently completed a series of forums at our Canterbury and at our Thames Gateway office in Chatham entitled: “Age discrimination – three years on and the Equality Bill”.

The subject matter allowed the audience to consider the practical implications of a number of important legal cases that explore the parameters of the Age Regulations since their implementation in October 2006. What was interesting is how concerned the HR practitioners are to avoid discrimination against younger workers at the early stages of their working life; an area of age discrimination that is often overlooked. This should be seen in the context of extremely high current unemployment rates amongst young workers and a genuine desire to avoid a ‘lost generation’ similar to the perception of the early 1980’s.

However, the key issue for many was where are we going with the default retirement age of 65? There was an almost uniform acceptance that the default retirement age of 65 is becoming untenable. This should be seen in the context of an ageing population, growing pensions crisis, low investment returns and increasing state retirement pension age. The conclusion from the forums is that, whilst the default retirement age of 65 might remain for the moment, it will certainly need to increase from 65 when the Government’s review is complete. The forums view was that it will increase to a minimum of 67, possibly on a staged basis to 70. There were some HR practitioners that also felt the time was right to scrap the default retirement age altogether; seeing it as a notional and unfair age block.

We also considered the draft Equality Bill, which was finally approved by the House of Commons on 6 April 2010. It is expected to receive Royal Assent shortly and to come into force in stages, beginning in October this year. However, the final implementation of the Equality Act 2010 will ultimately depend upon the result of the forthcoming General Election. The Conservative Party has a new political agenda and has announced an intention to drop some aspects of the Act. Indeed, they have already announced that a future Conservative Government would not bring into force the duty on public authorities to tackle ‘socio-economic disadvantage’ and the encouragement of positive action in recruitment and promotion. The Conservatives also oppose compulsory pay audits, proposing that only an adverse Tribunal decision against an employer should trigger an audit. They do, however, endorse equality legislation harmonisation. 

The encouragement of positive action in recruitment and promotion would allow, but not force, an employer to choose someone for a job from an under-represented group to increase the diversity of the workforce provided they are ‘as qualified’. It was this aspect of the draft Bill that stimulated most debate at the forums. Whilst broadly sympathetic to the rationale and purpose, the genuine concern for the HR practitioners was that ‘as qualified’ was ambiguous and a possible charter for abuse. The devil is clearly going to be in the detail!

There is no doubt that these are challenging and often uncertain times for employers; HR practitioners will remain busy at the coal face for a while to come. Whatever the outcome of the General Election, the Furley Page HR Forum will continue to explore and debate future employment issues and their practical implications. Join us if you want to help contribute to a stimulating and interesting ongoing debate amongst fellow HR professionals!

For further information about future HR forums held by Furley Page Employment team, contact Andrew Masters, Partner and Head of Employment Law on 01227 763939.