Age Discrimination Law
Posted on: 27th April 2006
Employers are not adequately prepared for the new laws coming into force with regards to age discrimination set to become effective from October 1st.
According to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, (ACAS) four in five companies are yet to inform their staff of the upcoming changes which will ban both direct and indirect discrimination relating to recruiting, promoting and training of staff.
The laws will not allow employers to force retirement at the age of 65; they will instead need to give a minimum of six months notice to employees approaching retirement age. In turn, should the employee then wish to work beyond retirement they must inform their employers three months prior to their leaving date. Similar changes in the law introduced in Ireland and the US resulted in related court cases increasing 19% and 40% respectively.