Press Release
Dont fall foul of age laws
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 UK’s small
business community to review its employment policies as a matter of urgency
to ensure they don’t 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: “Owners 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.”
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 – 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. Don’t be an ‘ageist advertiser’ - Adopt an age-positive
stance across your recruitment strategy. Avoid using words like ‘young’,
‘energetic’ or even ‘mature’ 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 – 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 – Under the new legislation all employees
will be given the ‘right to request’ 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 ‘duty to consider’ such requests and
should build this into any employment policies or procedural handbooks you
make available to staff.
5. Educate staff – 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. Don’t 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: “Many 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 don’t get their employment practices in
order.
“It’s 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.”
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