Organisations facing recruitment difficulties and attempting to get ready for new age discrimination legislation have been targeting older workers according to new research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
But the move has sparked a warning from employment law expert Croner that deliberately targeting older workers could trigger age discrimination claims when new legislation comes into force on October 1.
That’s because the new Employment Equality (Age) Regulations protect workers of all ages from discrimination and not just older workers.
The CIPD’s annual Recruitment, Retention and Turnover Survey revealed that 70 per cent of organisations are actively seeking to recruit people aged between 55 and pension age, while 31 per cent of organisations are seeking to recruit people already entitled to the state pension.
The research also shows that employers target young people, with 74 per cent of organisations actively trying to recruit 16-24 year olds.
Nicola Monson, author of the report, says: “It is encouraging to see that so many organisations are introducing age diverse practices ahead of the new regulations in October.
“This enables employers to tap into the relatively unused talent pool of older
workers to overcome recruitment difficulties and help build an age diverse workforce that can add real value to business, not just in terms of older workers but all age groups.
“However in order to recruit fairly and remove any age bias there is still much that can be done, for example removing any age-related criteria from the application process.”
Croner says that many employers already have the misconception that they will be complying with the new legislation if they boost their quota of older workers.
A recent Croner study of 20 in-depth interviews with HR professionals on age discrimination revealed one respondent saying: “The legislation won’t affect us directly as we have a lot of workers over the age of 60 years.”
Worryingly, the CIPD survey, which has been widely reported, could compound this view, as Croner’s research also showed that most respondents rely on the press for their knowledge and understanding of the new law.
Under the new Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, businesses may only target a certain age group if they are under-represented in the workforce, but they must be careful not to exclude other groups.
Richard Smith, employment services director at Croner, says: “The CIPD research findings show that employers are thinking positively about age, but it could mislead them that recruiting from specified age groups, young or old, is always acceptable – a view which, in our experience, many employers have.
“While targeting and encouraging applications from under-represented age groups is allowed – and something we advise our clients to do – active recruiting of specific ages is not, and may lead to claims.
“Complying with the new legislation is going to be a fine balance for employers who want to be positive about age and attract older or younger workers, but who need to ensure that in so doing they don’t discriminate or portray a discriminatory attitude in their recruitment methods.”
Croner’s top tips for creating an age positive organisation are:
- Audit policies and procedures to ensure they encourage fair and non-discriminatory treatment and communicate them to employees
- Train managers on any potential issues they face and how to deal with those issues
- Take prompt action if issues are raised
- Give clear feedback on inappropriate behaviour
- Monitor statistics on age profile in your workforce
- Talk to/survey all employees to identify common areas of concern
- Role model positive, inclusive attitudes and behaviour
- Explore behaviours/values at the recruitment stage
- Create a ‘life-long learning’ culture throughout the organisation
- Introduce team building exercises/buddying/mentoring schemes.
