Age Discrimination in the United Kingdom
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| DOI | 10.1177/135822919900300402 |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Author | Helen Meenan |
International Journal
of
Discrimination and the Law, 1999, Vol. 3, pp. 227-248
1358-2291/99 $10
© 1999 A B Academic Publishers. Printed
in
Great Britain
AGE DISCRIMINATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
HELEN MEENAN
.lean Monnet Chair in European Law, Kingston University,
UK
ABSTRACT
There is currently no legislation in the UK dealing with age discrimination in any
area. This article focuses on the question
of
ageism in employment and outlines the
UK Government's present voluntary and educative policy towards this problem.
It
points out deficiencies in this approach, not least lack
of
enforcement
or
a remedy
for victims. The 'demographic revolution' resulting from an already ageing UK
population, makes the need for effective protection against ageism in employment,
more urgent than ever before. The question whether legislation for age discrimina-
tion would work in the UK is also addressed.
In
the absence
of
specific statutory
protection for age, it may be possible to obtain redress by claiming indirect gender,
race or disability discrimination under existing British law on these areas. This is
however inadequate to tackle the very real problem
of
ageism in the workplace. A
number
of
studies have recommended appropriate equal opportunities policies and
an holistic human resources strategy to deal with this issue. These have some merit
but on their own will not achieve a uniform and acceptable outcome.
INTRODUCTION
On
the 29 October 1998 John Glenn astronaut, aged 77 years, joined
an American mission into outerspace and conducted age-related
experiments in space. There can hardly be a better metaphor for the
regard . American society has for its elder citizens and the valuable
contribution they can make to the world around them. This is also
reflected in the fact that the US recently celebrated the thirtieth anni-
versary
of
legislation to outlaw discrimination on the grounds
of
age
in employment at advertisement, recruitment, pensions and dismissal
stages.
1 By contrast the elderly would appear to enjoy a far less
revered and protected status in Europe taken as a whole.
This article on age discrimination in employment will look at
where we are now in the UK, on this question. The British Govern-
ment has decided to tackle the problem by means
of
a voluntary and
educative approach rather than legislation. The article will outline
and comment on the British Government's consultation report2 (the
consultation) and draft code
of
practice3 (the code), both launched in
228
1998.
The
question will be asked
if
legislation would work in the
UK
and the views
of
the
Law
Society
of
England and Wales (the
Law
Society) in particular, shall be put forward in reply. These
recommend using existing gender and race discrimination legislation
as a model for any future law on age discrimination in employment.
The
article shall look at the reasons for retaining older British
workers and good practice guidelines emerging from European Com-
munity research into ageism in the
UK
and Europe. It shall then
explore where remedies can
be
sought in the absence
of
age discrim-
ination legislation by looking at the possible overlap between age
and
the areas which are already protected from discrimination by British
law, namely gender, race and disability. Finally, it will examine the
question
of
age discrimination in dismissal and the role
of
equal
opportunities in fighting ageism.
The
writer is currently conducting research into long-standing
US legislation on age discrimination in the workplace and, the Irish
Employment Equality Act, 1998 which is due to come into effect
during 1999
and
is a very comprehensive legislative approach to nine
major grounds
of
discrimination in employment, including age.
Her
future research on ageism in employment shall also explore possible
solutions from Europe: anticipated cases before the European Court
of
Justice, changes brought about by the Treaty
of
Amsterdam, 19974
existing legislative and other initiatives and the role
of
the European
Convention for the Protection
of
Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms5• It may well be that the
UK
will have to introduce legisla-
tion to deal with age discrimination in the workplace as a result
of
judicial
or
legislative developments in the European Union.
THE
UK
AND
THE
AGE
QUESTION
There is
no
legislation
in
the
UK
to combat age discrimination in
any sphere, despite the attempts
of
Members
of
Parliament and the
House
of
Lords.6
In
its election manifesto the present British govern-
ment opined that
no
one should be discriminated against because
of
their age.
7 This seems to have been interpreted in some quarters as
an undertaking to introduce legislation
on
age discrimination.
8 The
government has however tackled the problem
of
age discrimination in
employment by setting up a consultation process in March, 1998 as
a prelude to a draft code
of
practice on age discrimination which
issued in November, 1998. Consultation took place between repres-
entatives
of
employers, trade unions, government and the elderly and
resulted in a report 'Action on
Age'
which states the government's
wish that all people who are able to work, regardless
of
age should
be able to contribute to the continued growth and development
of
the
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