Employers are vulnerable to the risk of legal claims under age discrimination legislation which comes into force this month, experts have warned.
The law firm Eversheds said it would be "near impossible" to prepare completely for the changes because of poor drafting and lack of practical guidance. From October 1, it is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of age, a change which will affect recruitment, promotion, retirement and redundancy procedures, as well as benefits and pensions.
Owen Warnock, employment law partner at Eversheds, predicted five main areas of confusion, despite years of consultation and planning: enhanced redundancy payments; insurance schemes; length of service-related benefits; the retirement process; and human error.
He said it was unclear whether employers could continue to give enhanced redundancy payments to older workers. And provision of health, critical illness and life insurance policies were all a concern. "How will employers deal with the fact that it is expensive and difficult to secure cover for workers beyond 65 and 70?"
Similarly, any slip in a new retirement procedure could turn a retirement into an unfair dismissal, he said. "It's outrageous that after such a long consultation process, employers are left with regulations which give only vague and uncertain interpretations of the original European directive. A significant number of companies, despite trying very hard to comply with the regulations, will find themselves facing allegations of age discrimination. The clarification on age discrimination is set to be decided in the courts."
Professor John Rust, director of the University of Cambridge's Psychometrics Centre, warned that, under the new act, demanding a degree from job applicants, for example, might be discriminatory, as older people were less likely to have such a qualification.
But Paula Widdowson, commercial director of the food and drink sector skills council Improve, called the act a "huge opportunity" for employers: "If you are more flexible in your recruitment policy and recruit people who aren't necessarily in the 16-21 age group, your business succeeds hand over fist."
She cited Lightbody Celebration Cakes: "It is employing four times as many females than normal, has significantly campaigned to recruit people over 40 and is becoming even more profitable as a result." It was, though, crucial to have the skills to manage a diverse workforce, she said.
Martin Tilstone, HR director at Uniq's UPF Pinneys of Scotland, saw no big problems: "We see it as opening up the recruitment pool, which sort of helps us, especially in our area of low unemployment. It is similar to sex and race discrimination issues and people have managed to get to grips with that, so why not this?"