May 05, 2011
A London based law firm has published figures, obtained from the employment tribunals, which show a 164% increase in age discrimination claims in 2010. Possible reasons for the increase have been given as greater public knowledge of the law in this area following a number of high profile cases and more older people having been made redundant in the recession and the lead up to the abolition of the Default Retirement Age earlier this month. Further claims can be expected as some employers fail to make the necessary adjustments to deal with the abolition of the default retirement age, such as not having adequate evidence of performance based or other legitimate grounds for dismissing older staff. Employers can take steps to avoid age-related and other types of discrimination claims by reviewing their policies and procedures to ensure that they do not treat certain groups of staff less favourably than others. An employment solicitor can provide advice in this respect and will be able to review and re-draft any necessary documents such as employment contracts, job offers and company policies so that they comply with the law.