The Law

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 covers almost all aspects of employment, from advertising a post, to being considered for redundancy. It makes it illegal to discriminate against someone because of their age when in employment but does not yet extend to the provision of goods and services. Though as with other legislation it will probably be only a matter of time before this changes.  It is illegal for employers to discriminate against employees, trainees or job seekers because of their age and employers must ensure that all workers, regardless of age, have the same rights in terms of training and promotion.

There is a national default retirement age of 65 which will mean employers can no longer force an employee to retire before then, unless there is a genuine occupational requirement.

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