Should employers provide their employees with any information about age discrimination?
Are long-service awards incompatible with the Equality Act 2010?
No, long-service awards are not necessarily incompatible with the
age discrimination provisions of the Equality Act 2010. Service-related benefits
- although not age-related benefits - are subject to a limited exemption
contained in para.10 of sch.9 to the Equality Act 2010. The exemption means that
long-service awards such as additional holiday or pay are allowed, provided that
they are awarded on the basis of service of five years or less. If this is the
case no further justification is required.
The five years of service can be either the length of time that
the worker has worked at or above a particular level in the business, or the
length of time the worker has been working for the employer in total. A
different method can be adopted in relation to different benefits. In
calculating the length of time that a worker has been working, the employer may
discount any period during which the worker was absent, unless, in all the
circumstances, it would not be reasonable to do so.
In addition, there is a general exception for all other
service-related benefits, provided that it reasonably appears to the employer
that the way in which it uses the criterion of length of service fulfils a
business need of the undertaking, for example by encouraging the loyalty or
motivation, or rewarding the experience, of some or all of its workers. In order
to meet these requirements, the employer would need evidence from which it can
conclude that there is a benefit to the business. This could include information
gathered through monitoring or staff attitude surveys.
The service-related exception does not apply to service-related
benefits arising as a result of termination of employment, for example
redundancy pay.
XpertHR provides answers to more than 1,000 FAQs. But that's not all...
Request a demo today to find out how XpertHR can benefit your organisation
Where it is a company's policy to give a small gift to employees who have completed periods of service of multiples of 10 years could this be discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010?
Can an employee bring a pay discrimination claim on grounds other than sex?
Is "last in, first out" still a valid redundancy selection criterion?
Will an employer be liable to an age discrimination claim if it makes enhanced redundancy payments?
Can employers stipulate in job adverts that applications from individuals who have reached, or are within six months of reaching, retirement age will not be accepted?
Can an employer use a mandatory retirement age for workers who are not employees?
Is it permissible to increase the frequency of health screenings for employees in line with age?
Can an employer ask an employee whether or not he or she has any plans to retire?
Can an employer suggest to an employee that he or she consider reducing his or her hours in preparation for retirement?
Should an employer notify its employees that they can choose to retire?
Should an employer take into account an employee’s age when setting targets or assessing performance?
If an employer does not retain an employer justified retirement age, can it retire employees if this is justified on a case-by-case basis?
How should an employer that is no longer using a compulsory retirement age amend its policies as a result of the abolition of the default retirement age?
What procedure should an employer follow if it wants to retire an employee after the removal of the default retirement age?
How can an employer know whether or not its retirement age can be objectively justified?
What should an employer do if an older employee requests to change his or her working pattern in preparation for retirement?
Can an employer offer a pre-retirement course to employees when they reach a certain age?
Can an employer stop providing group risk insured benefits such as life assurance or private medical cover to employees when they reach a certain age?