Age discrimination to be banned in UK

The new measures – published in draft today – are the final stage of implementing the European Employment Directive. With the approval of Parliament, the regulations are due to come into force on 1st October 2006.

The draft regulations (which will not affect the age at which people can claim their state pension):

• prohibit unjustified age discrimination in employment and vocational training;
• require employers who set their retirement age below the default age of 65 to justify or change it;
• introduce a new duty on employers to consider an employee’s request to continue working  beyond retirement;
• require employers to inform employees in writing, and at least 6 months in advance, of their intended retirement date. This will allow people to plan for their retirement;
• remove the upper age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights, giving older workers the same rights to claim unfair dismissal or receive a redundancy payment  as younger workers, unless there is a genuine retirement; and
• include provisions relating to service related benefits and occupational pensions.

The regulations also remove the age limits for Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay and Statutory Paternity Pay.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it will also be taking steps to gauge stakeholder opinion on changes to the method of calculation of statutory redundancy payments.

Mr Johnson said: "Individuals should have the choice to carry on working if they want to. This is not about forcing people to work longer, it is about freedom to choose."

He added that people need to be able to plan for their future and retirement should not come as an unexpected surprise. "The duty for employers to give at least six months notice will help individuals make informed decisions about retiring," he said.

Many rules in existing occupational pension schemes are age-based, but the new regulations will effectively exempt most age-related rules so that pension provision will not be jeopardised and necessary pension operations can continue unaffected. As far as possible exemptions will also be made for length of service pay and non-pay benefits, according to the DTI.

The DTI is consulting on the practical application of the draft regulations, to ensure they are effective and workable.