U.K.: Ageism cases rise with joblessness

. LONDON, England / The Financial Times / March 3, 2009 Age discrimination claims in the UK have risen sharply as the recession drives up joblessness, a firm of employment lawyers will report on Tuesday. By Andrew Taylor, Employment Correspondent Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Tribunal Service by Eversheds, the international law firm, show that age discrimination claims are on course to rise by more than 27 per cent in the 12 months to the end of this month. The statistics were disclosed ahead of a crucial ruling, expected on Thursday, from the European Court of Justice on whether the British government’s decision to allow employers to force workers to retire at 65 breaches European Union age discrimination rules. Hundreds of tribunal claims have been held up pending the outcome of the challenge to UK law, led by Age Concern and Heyday, the charity’s retirement arm. The delay has not prevented a surge in discrimination claims from a range of ages, however. Nats, the air traffic control service, was found guilty of discrimination last week for refusing to recruit trainee controllers above the age of 35. According to Eversheds, the number of age discrimination cases in the 10 months to the end of January had already exceeded the total for all 12 months of the preceding financial year by almost 7 per cent. Employment tribunal claims are expected to have risen generally as the number of people out of work climbed to almost 2m by the end of last year.

‘Age discrimination can occur at any time throughout an individual’s working life’

Age discrimination cases account for only a small proportion of the tribunal’s workload, however, with unfair dismissal and sex discrimination claims by far the most numerous grievances. Chris Ball, the chief executive of the Age and Employment Network, welcoming last week’s judgment against Nats, said: “Too much of the discussion about age discrimination and the age regulations has focused on the issue of enforced retirement at age 65. Age discrimination can occur at any time throughout an individual’s working life and it frequently does at the recruitment stage. “If you asked most 36-year-olds whether they thought they were too old to do virtually any job, their resounding response would be, ‘No, that’s ridiculous.’ And they would be right.” Owen Warnock, a partner and age discrimination expert at Eversheds, said: “While a preliminary ruling on [the Heyday] case is expected from the ECJ this week, it will ultimately not settle the question of whether compulsory retirement qualifies as unlawful age discrimination.” “It is likely to be at least another 12 months before the law is clarified and it could take much longer if there are appeals within the UK legal system and further referrals to the European court.” ... Warning over insurance premiums Customers will face higher insurance premiums if insurers are prevented from using people’s age to help them assess risk, the industry warned on Monday . The Association of British Insurers said costs were likely to increase for all customers if the government pressed ahead with plans to widen age discrimination rules to include the provision of goods and services in the forthcoming Equalities Bill. The cost of travel insurance, for example, could double if insurers were no longer able to take people’s age into account, warned the ABI. It would be unfair on other consumers if insurers were not allowed to take people’s age into account when setting premiums, it said. The average motor claim made by someone over 80 was almost 50 per cent higher than one made by someone aged 60, while the average travel claim for someone over 65 was nearly three-and-a-half times higher than for those under 50, said the ABI. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009