Under the Equality Act 2010, age is a protected characteristic but is one often overlooked by employers. According to a recent report carried out by the Women and Equalities Committee, age discrimination is often minimised compared to discrimination relating to other protected characteristics.
This is despite the UK having an increasingly older working population, with ONS projecting that 27% of the population will be aged 65 and older by 2072 and the UK state pension age expecting to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
The Ministry of Justice has set out that in 2023/2024, age discrimination claims received the largest average award (£100,000) compared to other discrimination claims. Compensation for age discrimination claims is uncapped and such claims may be extremely costly for employers, with factors such as loss of career and injury to feelings being considered by the Employment Tribunal.
Employers must ensure that their workplace is not discriminatory. Areas that are often overlooked by employers include:
- Recruitment – is there unconscious bias present, e.g. in the wording of job adverts?
- Policies – do you have a menopause policy?
- Training – do you carry out diversity training?
- Diversity – is your workplace diverse?
- Culture – are older employees directly or indirectly excluded from being invited to workplace socials?
- Selection Criteria – are older employees targeted during redundancy exercises?
