Gavin Howe
Age discrimination, also known as ageism, is when someone is treated unfavourably because of their age. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 protects people from age discrimination in the workplace and wider society. The Act covers direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. It applies to employment matters, such as recruitment, employment terms, promotions, and dismissals, as well as to organisations that provide goods or services. While age discrimination is prohibited by law, it can be legal under certain circumstances, such as when it is ''objectively justified'.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Age discrimination | Unlawful to treat someone unfairly because of their age |
| Direct discrimination | Treating someone worse than another person in a similar situation because of their age |
| Indirect discrimination | A policy or way of working that applies to everyone but puts people of a certain age group at a disadvantage |
| Harassment | Includes ageist language and behaviour |
| Victimisation | Treating someone badly because they have made a complaint of age discrimination |
| Discrimination by perception | Discrimination because someone thinks you are (or are not) a specific age or age group |
| Discrimination by association | Discrimination because you are connected to someone of a specific age or age group |
| Occupational requirement | Belonging to a particular age group is essential for a job |
| Positive action | Encouraging people from disadvantaged groups to apply for jobs |
Explore related products
What You'll Learn
The Equality Act 2010
The Act also introduced the Public Sector Equality Duty, which requires public bodies such as local authorities, hospital trusts, and police authorities to prevent discrimination and consider the needs of people with protected characteristics, including older people, when planning or carrying out their public duties or services. This means that any age-based practices by the NHS and social care organisations need to be objectively justified if challenged.
Repealing UK Laws: A Step-by-Step Guide
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Direct and indirect discrimination
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It protects against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.
Direct discrimination occurs when someone treats you worse than another person in a similar situation because of your age. For example, your employer refuses to let you attend a training course because they think you are 'too old', but they allow younger colleagues to attend. Direct age discrimination is permitted if the employer can demonstrate a valid reason for the discrimination. This is known as objective justification. For instance, a construction company may refuse to employ under-18s on a site due to safety concerns.
Indirect discrimination happens when an organisation has a general policy or way of working that applies to everyone but puts people of a certain age group at a disadvantage. For example, an employer may have a policy that only workers with a postgraduate qualification are eligible for promotion. While this rule applies to all employees, younger people are less likely to have such a qualification and are therefore disadvantaged. Like direct discrimination, indirect discrimination is permitted if the employer can demonstrate a valid reason for the policy.
Age discrimination can be legal under certain circumstances. The Equality Act allows for age discrimination when it can be 'objectively justified'. This means the employer or service provider must show they have a legitimate reason for discriminating based on age. For instance, an employer could set an upper age limit for a job requiring very high levels of physical fitness.
In the UK, age is one of nine 'protected characteristics' covered by discrimination law. The other characteristics include gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity leave, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Past Consideration: Validity in Indian Law?
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Harassment and victimisation
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone. Age discrimination is covered by this act and includes harassment and victimisation.
Harassment is defined as any unwanted behaviour that violates a person's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. This could include ageist language and behaviour, which can be a regular pattern or a one-off incident. Harassment can occur in the workplace, at work social events, or when people are working remotely.
Victimisation refers to any negative treatment or detrimental action taken against a person who has made a complaint about discrimination or provided information about discrimination. This could include any form of retaliation, intimidation, or adverse treatment as a result of the person's actions.
The Equality Act provides protection against harassment and victimisation in services and public functions, work, education, associations, and transport. It also introduces the concept of "discrimination arising from disability" and applies the detriment model to victimisation protection, aligning with employment law.
It is important to note that age discrimination can be legal under certain circumstances. The Equality Act allows for age discrimination when it can be 'objectively justified'. This means that an employer or service provider must show that they have a good reason for discriminating based on age. For example, an employer could set an upper age limit for a job that requires very high levels of physical fitness.
If you feel that you have been harassed or victimised due to your age, you can take action by following the complaints procedure of the organisation involved. You may also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service or the Age UK Advice Line for advice and guidance.
Law Minors: University Options and Opportunities
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Employment matters
The Equality Act 2010 protects people from age discrimination in the UK. It applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, employment terms and conditions, promotions and transfers, training, and dismissals. The Act covers direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. Direct discrimination occurs when someone treats another person worse than someone else in a similar situation because of their age. An example of this would be an employer refusing to allow an older employee to undertake a training course, while allowing younger colleagues to do so. Direct discrimination is permitted if there is an objectively justified reason for the discrimination. For example, an employer could put an upper age limit on a job that requires high levels of physical fitness.
Indirect discrimination happens when an organisation has a policy that applies to everyone but puts a certain age group at a disadvantage. For example, an employer may have a policy that only workers with a postgraduate qualification are eligible for promotion. While this policy applies to all employees, younger employees are less likely to have this qualification and are therefore disadvantaged. Indirect discrimination can be permitted if there is a good reason for the policy.
Harassment is also covered by the Equality Act and includes ageist language and behaviour. This could be a regular pattern of behaviour or a one-off incident, and it can occur in the workplace, at work social events, or when people are working remotely. Victimisation refers to the treatment of someone who has made a complaint of age discrimination or supported someone else's complaint.
The Equality Act also applies to employment agencies, which must not discriminate against someone because of their age by denying them access to services or job placements. Positive action refers to steps an employer can take to encourage people from disadvantaged groups to apply for jobs. For example, if older people are underrepresented in the workplace, employers can state in recruitment adverts that older people are welcome to apply. However, positive discrimination, where an employer only accepts applications from older candidates, is not permitted.
The Equality Act has some exceptions. For example, students are not protected from age discrimination at school. There may also be cases where treating someone differently because of their age is lawful, such as when belonging to a particular age group is essential for a job. This is known as an occupational requirement. For instance, a film company making a film about Oliver Twist may lawfully hire a young boy to play Oliver.
Fire Drills: UK Law and Annual Requirements
You may want to see also
Explore related products
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It applies to places that provide goods or services and covers employment matters. The Act sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone.
The Equality Act includes provisions that ban age discrimination against adults in the provision of services and public functions. The ban came into force on 1 October 2012, and it is now unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age unless good reason can be shown for the differential treatment ('objective justification'). The ban on age discrimination is designed to ensure that the new law prohibits only harmful treatment that results in genuinely unfair discrimination because of age. It does not outlaw the many instances of different treatment that are justifiable or beneficial.
The Equality Act also introduced the Public Sector Equality Duty, which requires public bodies to consider all individuals when carrying out their day-to-day work – in shaping policy, delivering services, and in relation to their own employees. Public Sector Equality Duty applies to public bodies such as local authorities, hospital trusts, and police authorities. These public bodies must consider the needs of people with protected characteristics, including older people, when planning or carrying out their public duties or services. For example, if a local bus service is heavily used by older people to get to local health services, this should be considered when deciding whether to cancel the service.
The Public Sector Equality Duty is in addition to the public authority's duty not to discriminate. The duty aims to ensure public authorities think about things like discrimination and the needs of people who are disadvantaged or suffer inequality when making decisions about how they provide their services and implement policies. People who are protected under the Act have what are called 'protected characteristics'.
Obama's Law Teaching Career at the University of Chicago
You may want to see also
Frequently asked questions
Age discrimination, also known as ageism, is when someone is treated unfavourably because of their age. This can include direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.
The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society. It applies to places that provide goods or services and covers employment matters.
The Public Sector Equality Duty is part of the Equality Act, which requires public bodies such as local authorities, hospital trusts, and police authorities to prevent discrimination and consider the needs of people with protected characteristics, including older people.
Yes, age discrimination can be legal under certain circumstances. For example, an employer could set an age limit for a job that requires very high levels of physical fitness. Direct discrimination is permitted if the employer can show a good reason for the discrimination, known as objective justification.
If you experience age discrimination, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service or the Age UK Advice Line for advice and support. You can also find information about your rights and how to complain about unlawful treatment on the government website.
