Part 3: Age discrimination and recruitment

The regulations require employers to base recruitment decisions on the skills and abilities required to do the job, not the age of the candidate.

A specific exception is where a person is older than, or within six months of, the employer's normal retirement age (or 65 if the employer does not have one). Here employers are allowed to refuse to recruit based on age.

According to Acas, job application forms will need to be reviewed to ensure that unnecessary information about age and dates is not requested. However, it is not compulsory to remove age and date of birth fields from application forms.

Decisions should be monitored for any evidence of age bias, and training provided to those responsible for recruitment, Acas says.

Also, care will need to be taken with job descriptions, which may need to avoid reference to 'so many years' experience as this could be interpreted as ruling out younger people who have the skills required but have not had the opportunity to demonstrate them over an extended period.

Advertising for jobs could also lead to indirect discrimination, such as an advertisement placed only in a magazine aimed at young people. Also, language that could imply a preference for someone of a certain age, such as 'mature', 'young' or even 'energetic' may need to be avoided.

When seeking graduates, the term could be interpreted as someone in their early twenties, even though graduates can be almost any age. It may need to be made clear in the context of the advert that the interest is in the qualification and not the age of the applicant.

Those interviewing for positions will need to avoid asking questions related to age such as "how would you feel about managing older/younger people?" as well as throwaway comments implying that candidates may not be old enough for the responsibility, or should be looking for a more responsible position if older.

Any organisation using recruitment agencies should check to ensure that they are operating in accordance with their equality and diversity policies.