Sam Mercer, director of the Employers’ Forum on Age, a charity promoting age diversity, warns that most ageism claims are most likely to arise during the recruitment process.She urged recruiters to ensure their processes are as fair as possible because age discrimination will be considered as serious as sexism or racism under the new laws. In Ireland, where age discrimination has been outlawed for seven years, ageism now accounts for almost a quarter (22%) of all discrimination claims.

“If you look at Ireland, which is quite similar to the UK in terms of culture, most of the claims have been at the recruitment end of the process,” said Mercer.

Employers discriminating on the grounds of age must find valid business reasons for doing so. But Mercer warned: “There may be temptation for people to think they can drive a coach and horses through the legislation because of the exemption clause.

“But it is going to be extremely difficult and costly for employers to justify age discrimination and then provide evidence to back it up.”

Recruiters and employers must start looking at their processes now to ensure they comply with the new laws.

READ: Recruiters in firing line on ageism

12:27 PM