Age Discrimination

It is on occasion necessary to directly or indirectly discriminate justifiably on the basis of age and the law recognises this.

This means that age discrimination is unique amongst the protected characteristics.

If by discriminating against you your employer can show that it is a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’ then they maybe be able to successfully argue that the discrimination is justified.

This justification is however difficult for the employer and they must prove they have no reasonable alternative.

An example of a reasonable justification is where there is a genuine occupational requirement – such as in the selection of cast members for a film production as the role requires actors of a certain age.

• You are able to make an unfair dismissal claim beyond the age of 65.
• You continue to have the right to make an unfair dismissal claim after you have reached your employer’s normal retirement age or the default retirement age of 65 if they don’t have one.
• You have the right to claim the statutory minimum redundancy payment from if you are over your normal retirement age or the default retirement age of 65
• You can request to work beyond 65. Any such request must be made in writing and where possible at least 4 weeks before the end of the proposed retirement date. The request can be made up to 4 weeks past but not after the date of termination of the contract of employment.A meeting to discuss the request should be held by the employer within a reasonable timeframe after the request has been made

  An employee’s request to work beyond 65 must be considered using the detailed procedure laid down in the act and the employer must show there is “objective justification” to retire the employee.

  The fact that you have reached a certain age is not in itself a good enough reason to retire you.

• The Act stops age discrimination in employment and work-related training.

  Employers have to ensure that any redundancy policies do not directly or indirectly discriminate against older employees. For example – by selecting only part-time workers for redundancy when many of these may be older workers.

  Employers are also unable to discriminate in respect of the benefits they provide to employees over the age of 65. The only exceptions to this will be where an age requirement can be objectively justified.

If the principal reason for you being dismissed is redundancy and not down to your age then the redundancy will be legal.

You will still be entitled to claim redundancy pay in the usual way.

If you are an employee and still in employment and you haven’t been able to resolve the issue informally with your line manager, then it is best that you firstly lodge an internal grievance.

This may be appropriate, for example, where you have been declined promotion or have been harassed due to your age. Your employer will be obliged to arrange a meeting without unreasonable delay to discuss your grievance claim.

You may, however, still be able to bring a claim against your employer in the Employment Tribunal whist you are still employed.

If you think you have been discriminated against and you have already been dismissed, you can lodge claims for unfair dismissal and age discrimination at the Employment Tribunal.

Any claim issued should be within 3 months of the date of dismissal or alleged discriminatory behaviour. It is now also mandatory to go through ACAS’s early conciliation scheme before submitting a claim to the tribunal.

If you are successful in your claim, any damages are uncapped and represent any monetary losses suffered in terms of wages, pension rights, perks etc.

A tribunal may also award compensation for injury to feelings.

Three bands of compensation guidelines have been set out by the Court of Appeal for injury to feelings dependant on the serious of the case.

These are commonly known as the “Vento” guidelines.