Age Equality Laws
The implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 is one of the most important changes in UK employment law for many years.
The way in which employers are now required to treat older members of staff and prospective employees will in many ways affect the way they approach disability.
What do the new laws mean?
- No mandatory retirement before 65 (unless justified)
- New processes required to manage retirement for everyone
- No upper age limits on unfair dismissal
- No age criteria in recruitment, promotion and training allowed (unless justified)
- No direct age criteria in redundancy selection
- Service related benefits generally allowed
How do these changes relate to disability?
The working population of the UK is ageing, which means more people will develop a disability during their working lives. In the UK, between the years 2000 and 2010 there will be 20% more workers aged 55 and over – 33% of people over 55 have a disability. At the same time, employers seeking skilled staff are experiencing chronic recruitment difficulties. This means employers faced with an ageing workforce will have to become disability confident to attract the most talented people and remain competitive.
Disability confidence and the new age regulations
A disability confident organisation will be more ready to adapt to the changing workplace demographic than one which focuses just on compliance with the law. Disability confident employers create healthy working environments that are essential to attract and retain staff.
Employers that are prepared to take on older people also have access to a wider talent pool and are more likely to recruit the best people for the job.
Additionally, organisations that innovate often find their specialist products and services work better for everyone; for example Tesco's 'Access' grocery shopping site, developed for sight impaired people, became so popular that it now attracts £13m spending a year.