Age Discrimination

Q        We want to appoint a senior manager and feel that this person would need at least 10 years' work experience to fulfil this role.  Is it ok for us to specify this in the job advert?

A        In order to avoid allegations of age discrimination, it is much safer to detail the skills and type of experience that person would need to do the job, rather than specify a minimum amount of time the person must have been working.  If you state a time limit, you must be able to objectively justify it.

Q        Our retail business is very young and vibrant and our core customer base is people aged 30 and under.  We want our customer facing employees to be representative of our customers and understand their needs.  Is it therefore acceptable to move our employees from customer facing roles to support roles once they reach the age of 40?

A        No, this would be considered to be a blatant act of age discrimination.  The Regulations don't make any exceptions for matching staff to customers in terms of age profile.

Q We have two employees who are over age 65. Can we select them for redundancy ahead of other employees?

A        No, this would be considered age discrimination.  All employees must be considered equally against your selection criteria whatever their age. Remember that they are now entitled to full redundancy pay too.

See also:

• Retirement

• Redundancy