New laws to combat ageism

New laws banning age discrimination in the workplace came into force on October 1. It is now unlawful to discriminate against an employee under the age of 65 on the grounds of age.

The Regulations apply to all employers, including the police, and will impact on the whole of the employment relationship, covering recruitment, training, promotion, pay, redundancy and retirement.

Research conducted by the charity Age Concern found that:

• More people (29 per cent) reported suffering age discrimination than any other form of discrimination.
• From age 55 onwards, people were nearly twice as likely to have experienced age prejudice than any other form of discrimination.
• Nearly 30 per cent of people believed there is more prejudice against the old than five years ago, and that this will continue to get worse.
• One third of people thought that the demographic shift towards an older society would make life worse in terms of standards of living, security, health, jobs and education.

Younger people can also be victims of age discrimination.

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Department for Work and Pensions, Anne McGuire, said: “For too long people have found it difficult to get work, and been passed over for training and promotion, because of their age.

“But many people, including employers, are unaware that the practice of ageism is also bad for business. As an employer you could be increasing your recruitment and retention costs, and preventing yourself from getting and keeping the best person for the job.”

A headcount in Hertfordshire Constabulary has revealed that just under six per cent of the workforce is over the age of 55, a fact that has been attributed to the current retirement age for police officers.

The force has launched an Age Awareness poster campaign, aiming to be at the cutting-edge of the fight against ageism in preparation for the new legislation.

The HR department has carried out an audit of the Constabulary employment policies and practices to ensure that they comply with the Age Equality Regulations.

Julie Foster, equality and diversity manager, explained: “It is a fact that people are living longer than ever before and are having fewer children, leading to an ageing population. This is causing the labour pool to contract, so we need to make sure we are not limiting our pool of talent by ruling people out of roles simply because of age. If people possess the skills and abilities to do the job, age should not be a consideration.”