Recruiting Employees In The New Age Of Discrimination Law

21 June 2006

On 1 October 2006, legislation outlawing age-based discrimination is to be implemented for the first time in the UK. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 are being hailed by many as the most significant upheaval in employment law for 30 years. When implemented, the new laws will prohibit discrimination on the grounds of age in employment and vocational training, unless the discriminatory aspect can be shown to be objectively justified.

Whilst there are exceptions, generally, employers will no longer be able to make recruitment and selection decisions based on age. Here is a brief look at how some of the principal proposals might affect employers’ when advertising for and recruiting new employees.

Arrangements

From October it will be unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in respect of age in the arrangements it makes for the purpose of determining to whom it should offer employment. This might include the practice of limiting recruitment arrangements to, for example, university recruitment fairs, where employers target graduates who are predominately young, or limiting advertising a position in a publication that is generally aimed at an age specific readership.

Advertising and person specification

Whilst the new laws will not make discriminatory advertisements unlawful as such, employers should take careful note when advertising and preparing job specifications. Examples that might provide an inference of age discrimination include, “young and dynamic professional”, “funky young company”, “mature”, “vibrant” or “upbeat”. Employers will also need to consider whether they can justify a specified minimum number of years experience for a job, as this could disadvantage younger applicants. The employer attempting to justify would need to establish that the requirement was appropriate and necessary rather than a mere preference. Employers should also be careful not to be age prescriptive about qualifications unless it is justifiable, for example, GCSE’s as opposed to O’Levels or the requirement for a recent graduate.

Application forms

Good practice recommends that questions about age and date of birth are removed from the main application form and placed in a separate diversity monitoring form. Application forms should also avoid requesting information from which the applicant’s age can be inferred, unless the information is necessary. An example might be the dates that an applicant attended school. However, it is appreciated that the dates of employment may still need to be taken into account in an application form.

Interviews

The asking of age-related questions at an interview could again provide an inference of age discrimination. An example might be asking a young applicant how they might feel about managing a group of older employees. The key is to be age neutral and focus on the applicant’s skill set and experience and how these might be appropriate for the position.

Employers should now be preparing for the changes. Preparation includes; carrying out a staff age audit, evaluating pay and benefit structures, checking recruitment, application and retirement procedures as well as employment rules and procedures to eradicate potential discrimination and discriminatory practices

For more information please contact Andrew Masters, Partner & Head of Employment.
 

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