Graduates of all ages can apply
Whether you are young or old, recent legislation has levelled the playing field and age cannot be a deciding factor in recruitment decisions.
By 2026 in the UK, half of everyone of working age will be aged over 50. Source: Government Actuaries Department
Age discrimination is a serious issue – be it against a young or old employee, it leads to reduced self-confidence, underachievement and low self-esteem. In recruitment, young applicants have traditionally been viewed as quick learners but naive to business realities, while older applicants are savvy yet change-resistant. These views, however, are not based on solid evidence. Studies have repeatedly shown that age does not equate to someone’s effectiveness at work, and organisations are recognising that age can no longer be seen as a selection criterion.
With increased life expectancy and a low birth rate, the proportion of people aged over 65 will increase dramatically over the next few decades. Until now, the law was sketchy when it came to age discrimination in employment. But from October 2006 new regulations came into force, protecting applicants so that age cannot be a deciding factor in recruitment decisions. Similarly employees cannot be overlooked for promotions or management positions because of their age.
There is a temptation to suspect the new legislation favours the older job-hunter but this is far from true. Figures from the Employers Forum on Age have shown that nearly half of young workers believe they have been held back at work because of their age. It is simply a levelling of the playing field. Employers can no longer request applicants for their ‘young, dynamic workforce’, or advertise a job to suit ‘a mature professional with ten years’ experience’, unless they can prove these are essential to the job.
Age and graduate recruitment
70% of people aged between 50 and state pension age are in work, compared to 81 per cent of those aged between 25 and 49. Source: Age Partnership Group (APG)
Graduate recruitment has been shaken up to comply with the new legislation. Some organisations have considered scrapping the term ‘graduate scheme’ altogether, while the future of the university milkround has been called into question. However such drastic changes, at the moment, appear unlikely. Graduates can be any age and milkround events should continue as long as employers widen their net to attract a diverse age range.
Recruitment literature and job adverts are changing. Gone are the days when groups of toothsome twenty-somethings were plastered across employment advertising. Specifying a minimum/maximum length of experience is to be avoided as it could disadvantage certain groups, such as recent graduates.
Employers also have to ensure that they advertise vacancies across a wide range of media to reach out to all age ranges – this is of great benefit to job-hunters, as openings should be easier to find.
The best news is that, to replace the now defunct criteria such as age, a clearer outline of the job function and requirements should be stated within an advertised vacancy. Formal job specifications, identifying particular skills and competences, are needed to ensure management and HR personnel can defend their reasons for recruiting individuals. In turn, this will help you to tailor your responses in applications and interviews to show how you meet the requirements. Similarly, pay and terms of employment should not be based on age, but should reflect individual contributions and job performance.
Age and employment law
27% of those aged 16–24 felt age worked against them when getting a job. Source: The Employers Forum on Age
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 have now added very specific legislation to ensure against age discrimination. The main issues, as outlined by The Age Partnership Group (APG) and the CIPD, are:
- The regulations cover people of all ages, both old and young.
- The regulations cover employment and vocational training. This includes access to help and guidance, recruitment, promotion, development, termination, perks and pay.
- It is only permissible to treat job applicants differently on the grounds of age if the job requires a characteristic related to age and this is a genuine occupational requirement. This exception also applies when promoting, transferring or training persons for a post.
- Interviewers and those concerned with selection must not be subjective on the basis of physical characteristics and unfounded assumptions, and must ensure their decisions are based on objective criteria, relevant to the job and merit.
- Upper age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy will be removed.
- A national default retirement age of 65 will be introduced making compulsory retirement below age 65 unlawful (unless objectively justified).
- All employees will have the ‘right to request’ to work beyond the default retirement age of 65 or any other retirement age set by the company and all employers will have a ‘duty to consider’ requests from employees to work beyond 65.
Employers can no longer treat a job applicant or employee less favourably than they would treat people of a different age. It also includes discrimination based on apparent age – so if you look 18 when you’re actually 28, and are treated less favourably because of this, then the employer would be breaking the law.
Indirect discrimination is also covered, whereby an employer applies a provision, criterion or practice which puts people of a particular age group at a particular disadvantage. Job applications may still ask for your age, but this should only be as part of their equal opportunities monitoring forms and not the selection criteria.
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