Small businesses urged to put age discrimination laws on "radar"

The chief legal officer at the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) believes that forthcoming age discrimination legislation may not be on the "radar" of smaller businesses.

The chief legal officer at the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) believes that forthcoming age discrimination legislation may not be on the "radar" of smaller businesses.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Peter Schofield said that larger employers were more likely to be gearing up for the new regulations as smaller employers were firmly concentrating simply on running their businesses.

Mr Schofield outlined the key points employers needed to be aware of under the regulations, including the recruitment of staff as well as the issue of retirement.

Firms needed to make sure they undertook measures such as removing age references from their application forms and train managers not to make remarks at the interview stage which suggested that they were after a particular age group.

He also said that firms needed to "ensure workers are trained to avoid harassing their colleagues over being old, or even young, because employers can be liable for that".