Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Latest NewsAge discriminationEmployment tribunalsDiscrimination

Age discrimination cases rise sharply at tribunals

by Adam McCulloch 31 May 2021
by Adam McCulloch 31 May 2021 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

The number of age discrimination complaints to employment tribunals increased by 74% in the past year, new research has suggested.

Age discrimination

What is indirect age discrimination?

Age discrimination: Jibes about Alzheimer’s were harassment

Should an employer take into account an employee’s age when setting targets or assessing performance?

According to Rest Less, a website “community” for people over-50, the number of receipts under age discrimination in employment tribunals reached 3,668 in 2020, up from 2,112 in 2019.

Age discrimination saw the biggest year-on-year increase of all other specific jurisdictional complaints, said Rest Less, with the analysis showing that the total number of jurisdictional complaints in employment tribunals decreased year on year (from 183,207 in 2019 to 180,430 in 2020).

In terms of absolute number of cases, unfair dismissal (23,000) led the way. Only Tupe cases and written pay statement showed percentage point increases in case numbers at anything like the scale of age discrimination cases, up by 47% and 33% respectively.

The organisation has predicted that the number of age discrimination complaints will soar in coming months. This reflects the steep rise in unemployment among over-50s – an increase of 48 percentage points year on year – with 284,685 redundancies among the over-50s in 2020 (up 79% year on year). There is also more than one million over-50s on furlough, Rest Less pointed out.

Stuart Lewis, founder of Rest Less, said: “We know that the pandemic has exacerbated age discrimination in both the workplace and the recruitment process. We also know that once made redundant, older workers are more likely to drift into long-term unemployment than their younger counterparts, raising fears about the sustainability of the UK’s recovery if we don’t have a jobs plan that works for people of all ages.”

He said the rise in tribunal age discrimination cases was linked to the need for many people to keep working until they are 66 to access the safety net of the state pension, adding: “Age is a legally protected characteristic … yet is still widely seen as a socially acceptable form of prejudice. Age discrimination is unfair, unacceptable and has long-term damaging consequences on both the individuals involved and wider society. It needs to stop.”

Patrick Thomson, senior programme manager at Centre for Ageing Better, said that many employers, despite saying that inclusion and diversity were important to them, did not have strategies to make their workplaces age-inclusive. He said: “It has never been more important for employers to make sure they are genuinely recruiting the best person for the job, regardless of age – and retaining their experienced older workforce. De-biasing the recruitment process, creating an age-inclusive culture, and supporting flexible working are all crucial to doing so.”

Rest Less used figures from the quarterly tribunal statistics from the Ministry of Justice issued on 11 March 2021 for its report.

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more human resources jobs

Adam McCulloch
Adam McCulloch

Adam McCulloch is a freelance writer and production editor who has worked in sectors including travel (The Guardian), aviation (Flight International), agriculture (Farmers' Weekly), music (Jazzwise), theatre (The Stage) and social work (Community Care). He also works for a national newspaper and is the author of KentWalksNearLondon

previous post
Employment Bill: What now for workers’ rights?
next post
Business lessons from Lord Dyson’s BBC investigation

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Aspers casino cashier excluded by colleagues wins £75k...

23 May 2022

Is the law confusing around positive action and...

25 Feb 2022

Reducing legal risks around retirement conversations

24 Feb 2022

Worker wins £22k following ‘old white man’ comments

21 Feb 2022

Age discrimination: IBM accused of calling older staff...

16 Feb 2022

Plumber called ‘Half-dead Dave’ by colleagues wins age...

4 Feb 2022

Dementia sufferer wins age and disability case against...

6 Jan 2022

Menopause-related employment tribunal claims on the rise

30 Nov 2021

When is compulsory retirement justified?

18 Nov 2021

15 years of age discrimination laws: Are they...

3 Nov 2021
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more
  • Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer in England PROMOTED | The University of Strathclyde is expanding its programmes...Read more
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+