Hope I Die Before I Get Old

When you hear the phrase ‘age discrimination’ what do you think of? Is your first thought panic over whether you can force Norman to retire when he’s 65 next month? Or are you regretting writing ‘now you’re over the hill’ in that birthday card for Sheila?

If any of this sounds familiar, don’t worry; you’re not alone. Since the age discrimination law came into force in 2006 the vast majority of questions from companies and individuals focus on older employees.

As a result, a case in the Employment Tribunal last week might come as a surprise to employers.

A 19 year old woman was awarded £16,000 including £5,000 for injury to feelings, after successfully claiming that she had been unfairly dismissed and subjected to age discrimination.

The Claimant has been employed as an administrative assistant until her employer told her that she was too young and said that it needed an older person with more experience.

The Tribunal found that the Claimant’s dismissal was clearly based on age discrimination and said that the company had relied on the stereotype that capability plus experience equals older age.

As regular readers of these columns will know, relying on stereotypes is always a risky business. What if a company didn’t promote a newly-married woman on the assumption that she would soon start a family, or didn’t hire an employee in a wheelchair on the assumption he couldn’t do the job? You would expect the company to receive short shrift before an Employment Tribunal; and you’d be right.

Simply saying that someone cannot do the job because they’re too young is direct discrimination, which is why this company lost the Tribunal. If, however, there is a genuine need for a certain amount of experience, which younger employees may not have had time to obtain, this can probably be justified by a company.

The key is to focus on the job itself, not the person. Once you know what a job entails, you can assess whether the employee fits the bill.

Don’t make assumptions, don’t rely on stereotypes and don’t forget that age discrimination can apply to anyone.

For more information or advice, contact Jon Loney

Published 12/03/2008. The author of this article is Jon Loney