What is age discrimination?

Age is a protected characteristic under Section 5 of the Equality Act 2010. All employees and workers of any age are protected from age discrimination including partners of firms, contract workers and anyone in vocational training.

All aspects of employment or prospective employment are protected from age discrimination, including, recruitment, employment terms and conditions, promotions and transfers, training and dismissals.

It is also unlawful to treat someone less favorably because of their apparent age, for example an employer refuses to recruit a worker because they mistakenly believe they are older than they actually are.

The main two types of age discrimination are direct and indirect age discrimination. Direct age discrimination occurs where a worker is treated less favorably because of their age. For example an employer selects the older workers for redundancy.

Indirect age discrimination is when a worker is put at a disadvantage because of the application of a provision or practice which affects all the workers but puts or would put those of a certain age at a particular disadvantage compared to others.

If you have experienced age discrimination in the work place and want to share your story to help others we would really like to to hear from you – email [email protected] or share it on the OurPlace forum – and head to the next section by clicking here.