New Age Discrimination Laws - Most Small Businesses in the Dark

The Employers' Forum on Age (EFA) and British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) together carried-out a representative survey of 250 employers and had half hour one-to-one interviews with another 37 employers to establish the level of knowledge about forthcoming age discrimination laws.

With only 90 days to go before age laws come into force, the results make sobering reading:

• Whilst 63% of employers know that new employment laws are coming into force in October, less than one in four knew that these included age discrimination regulations
• Only 18% of businesses feel that the Government has provided adequate and timely guidance to help small businesses digest the impact of new employment regulations on their businesses
• Just 35% knew that the default retirement age would be 65 but a majority 65% knew that employees can request to work beyond the age of 65

For full details on the The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, visit the DTI Website, and also our recent article on how recruiting older workers could be ageist!