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What do you think of the new European law on age discrimination?
posted by The Queen Elizabeth's School European Society @ 10:22 AM
The Queen Elizabeth's School European Society
Saturday, October 21, 2006
What do you think of the new European law on age discrimination?
1 Comments:
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations has come into force in the UK from the 1st October 2006, and are due to the government’s support of the EU equality directive on employment. The EU directive makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against workers on the basis of age. I would like to voice support for the idea of a directive itself, as ageism is becoming an increasingly important problem in the workplace, especially in countries which have an ageing population. No-one should be prevented from working against their own will simply due to their age, and the implementation of the directive is essential in providing support for older workers across the EU. The flexibility of the directive, which allows each EU country to draft its own legislation according to its own culture, is a highly desirable quality as it allows the implementation of an age discrimination law that is best suited for the individual EU member state.
The UK has chosen to adopt legislation that gives employers the right to ask an employee to retire at the age of 65, which is entirely reasonable and consistent with current regulations on the age of retirement. What worries me about this legislation is the fact that employers are easily able to get around it. Although in recruitment adverts, specific age requirements for candidates will not be allowed to be stated, during any interview process it would be relatively easy for firms to select candidates based upon their age. Employers can even state an “objective justification” in order to keep up age discriminatory practices if they are pursuing “a legitimate business aim” (BBC News). Furthermore, the grounds for an “objective justification” is not outlined in any of the laws, leaving possible the opportunity for businesses to exploit this gap in the legislation and continue to have discriminatory policies on age. Disturbingly, the BBC reports that most employers appear to have a “suck it and see approach”, and although are aware of the legislation, they have not made any real changes to their practice based upon it.
My view of the legislation adopted by the UK is rather sceptical. I feel that a policy against ageism in the workplace is a good policy to adopt as ageism is no less serious that sexism or racism in relation to employment. However, the manner of its implementations does ask the question of if it will make any change at all, due the ease of avoidance. All that I feel will happen is an increase in age related employment tribunal cases, and employers simply waiting until workers are 65 years old before making them retire without any reproof. The legislation adopted fails to achieve the aims of the directive outlined by the EU.
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