Coming of age

We have disability, sex, race and religious belief discrimination. Now, age discrimination will be illegal from October 2006, and many employers are still unaware of the affect this will have on their business.

The average age of workers in construction is between 54 and 56, so the retirement clauses within the Age Discrimination Act are likely to have a huge impact.

The default retirement age will be set at 65. If your contracts state a compulsory retirement age below 65, you must be able to justify your policy. If not, you will need to raise your company retirement age to the default age.

The employer will be obliged to officially notify an employee of pending retirement at least six months before to help individuals prepare for leaving the company. This also gives employers an opportunity to plan training, or recruit, before the retirement.

Should an employee wish to continue working past the default retirement age, the employer must reasonably consider their request. Any refusal to extend the employment contract must be justified on an individual basis.

I expect to see a significant increase in contract and policy reviews over the next 12 months.

Age discrimination regulations will also address discrimination against younger workers. The victimisation clause is likely to cause the biggest issue on construction sites, where poking fun at age is common. It will be unlawful to victimise, bully, or harass another worker, whether agency staff, casual labour, sub-contractor, or employed, because of their age. Victimisation is still the employer's responsibility and they should inform their workers not to get involved in potentially offensive site banter.

Examples of comments that could land the employer in tribunal include:

• "Get a move on, you old geezer".
• "Shall we get the Zimmer frame out?"
• "You're far too young to understand what I mean".

Clear guidance must be given to the workforce regarding how to complain about potential age discrimination by colleagues at work. This should reflect the Dispute Resolution Regulations which became effective October 2004. There are a number of ways to inform staff of the incoming legislation. For example, as well as providing training, HR Response produces a booklet on discrimination at work that can be distributed to employees.

Other areas employers might fall foul of are:

• Advertising that states: "Under 40-year-old required" when recruiting.
• Blocking of promotion or training because of age, whether too young, or too old.
• Benefits granted to employees for five years or more service.
• Removal of upper age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.

A 70% increase to the annual compensation bill awarded at tribunal against UK businesses is expected following the introduction of the Age Discrimination Act. As an established HR consultancy, we recommend that employers have their policies, contracts, handbooks, and customary working practices reviewed and updated by an experienced HR professional, to reflect the pending legislation.