Member Article

New age discrimination laws will affect rendundancy procedures

Northern employers have been urged to review their redundancy policies in light of new age discrimination laws which come into effect later this year. As of October 1st the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 will outlaw age discrimination in recruitment, training and promotion, and the regulations are likely to have a significant impact on how companies select employees for redundancy.EEF Northern is warning that the system of selecting employees for redundancy based on ‘last in, first out’ (LIFO) or with a heavy bias towards length of service are likely to satisfy the test of an indirect age discrimination claim and will therefore have to be justified as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. Ironically, the use of LIFO can have an adverse effect on employers too, as ‘younger’ recruits who may possess key skills and experience relevant to the business are not protected when using LIFO as a method of selection.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .