Indirect age discrimination at work

Sarah Nandhra LL.B. (Hons) LL.M.
0113 268 5000
employment@winstonsolicitors.co.uk

Indirect age discrimination in the workplace

Winston Solicitors LLP legal advice on age discrimination - more information:
Here we discuss the situation involving "indirect "age discrimination at work. If you feel you may been treated unfairly at work.

Indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination means selection criteria, policies, benefits, employment rules or any other practices which, although they are applied to all employees, have the effect of disadvantaging people of a particular age unless the practice can be justified. Indirect discrimination is unlawful whether it is intentional or not.

Lawful discrimination

There are limited circumstances when it is lawful to treat people differently because of their age.

It is not unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of age if:

There is an objective justification for treating people differently – for example, it might be necessary to fix a maximum age for the recruitment or promotion of employees (this maximum age limit might reflect the training requirements of the post or the need for a reasonable period of employment before recruitment)

Where a person is older than, or within six months of, the employer's normal retirement age, or 65 if the employer doesn't have one, there is a specific exemption allowing employers to refuse to recruit that person.

The discrimination is covered by one of the exceptions or exemptions given in the regulations – for example pay related to National Minimum Wage

There is a genuine occupational requirement (GOR) that a person must be of a certain age – for example, if you are producing a play which has parts for older or younger characters.