Many employers have yet to get to grips with the new age discrimination rules introduced in October 2006. A recent case from Ireland, where age discrimination laws have been in force for some time, illustrates the potential problems.Mr Cunningham attended an interview with an employment agency. He was asked to complete a registration form that asked a number of questions including his age and date of birth. Mr Cunningham queried why he needed to give his age, as he did not consider it to be relevant to his employment. When the agency insisted Mr Cunningham finally responded that he was 37 although he was actually 47.

Following the interview the agency noticed, from the other details provided, that Mr Cunningham’s age must have been wrong and they sought to check this with them. Mr Cunningham again made the point that he did not consider his age to be relevant to his application.The agency representative persisted and finally stated that without further information on his age, he would not put him forward for employment - this was despite having matched his skill set to available positions. The Equality Tribunal in Ireland found that Mr Cunningham’s claim of age discrimination had been made out because the agency had sought his age and date of birth on the registration form, and subsequently pursued the matter with him. Mr Cunningham was awarded €5,000 in compensation.

It is not unlawful to request age or date of birth on application forms. However if such information is requested in circumstances where it is not relevant then there is clearly a risk of age discrimination. Employers would therefore be well advised to review their application forms and interview processes to ensure that any risk is minimised.

Posted: July 4th, 2007 under Employment/HR.
Comments: none