Don’t fall foul of age laws

With new age discrimination legislation due to come in to force on 1 October 2006, Bibby Financial Services (BFS) is urging the UKís small business community to review its employment policies as a matter of urgency to ensure they donít risk prosecution.

Under the new Age Regulations, employers must ensure all employees are given access to help and guidance, promotion and development opportunities, adequate termination periods and equal perks and pay, regardless of their age, or face hefty penalties.

With recent research* showing red tape as one of the major concerns for owners and managers, David Robertson, chief executive of BFS, believes the introduction of yet more new legislation may catch many employers unaware.

Robertson said: ìOwners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises must ensure they are treading carefully between the lines of numerous legislative requirements and while I applaud the thinking behind the new Age Regulations, I can see many businesses coming unstuck for failing to implement age positive employment practices.î

In order to help tackle the area of age discrimination in the workplace, Bibby Financial Services has produced several top tips to help owners and managers meet their new obligations:

1. Review recruitment procedures ñ Take a look around your business. Are your employees diverse in terms of age range? Under new legislation, when recruiting you must consider who would be best for the position, rather than basing your decision on the age of an applicant.

2. Donít be an ëageist advertiserí - Adopt an age-positive stance across your recruitment strategy. Avoid using words like ëyoungí, ëenergeticí or even ëmatureí in recruitment advertising to ensure you are not discriminating against particular age groups. Ensure any recruitment or advertising agencies you employ have their own age-positive policies in place and understand the new regulations.

3. Honesty is the best policy ñ Be honest with yourself. Have you ever made a recruitment or promotion decision based on the age of a candidate or employee? If such a decision is made under the new legislation, the business owner could be liable for costly and embarrassing fines, so make sure your policies are up to date by speaking to an HR specialist.

4. Right to work ñ Under the new legislation all employees will be given the ëright to requestí to continue working beyond the new default retirement age of 65, or any other retirement age set by the company. As an employer, you have a ëduty to considerí such requests and should build this into any employment policies or procedural handbooks you make available to staff.

5. Educate staff ñ The new regulations cover not only employers, but also employees. It is therefore essential that employees are educated about their rights, as well as their duties to the business. Any direct discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of age by any employee could see the employer held responsible.

6. Donít be afraid to ask for help - As with many pieces of legislation, the Age regulations can be confusing. There are many places to turn for help and support including www.agepositive.gov.uk and the department of Trade and Industry (www.dti.gov.uk). The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also has a wealth of information regarding the new regulations on its website.

Robertson concluded: ìMany businesses are already reaping the benefits of employing an age diverse workforce. But, even those that are could fall foul of new legislation if they donít get their employment practices in order.

ìItís nonetheless good to see that, with an ageing population and the introduction of the new Age Regulations, attitudes towards older and younger employees are beginning to change and more and more employers are starting to take advantage of relatively untapped labour pools to help grow and develop their business.î