ESS aims to prevent age discrimination with proposals
Islanders could finally be protected against age discrimination under proposals put forward by Employment & Social Security.
It would allow people to be protected from age discrimination in the fields of employment, the provision of goods and services, accommodation and education, and the memberships of clubs and associations.
‘We’ve taken a balanced approach in developing these proposals to add age as a protected ground to the existing discrimination legislation,’ said ESS president Peter Roffey.
‘This is so that islanders who are discriminated against because of their age can be protected; while making sure employers, service providers, and other organisations have some leeway if there are legitimate reasons for differential treatment based on age.
‘The aim is to ensure the legislation only prohibits genuinely harmful treatment. In particular, the proposals – if approved – should help end ageist attitudes towards the employability of older workers, which is not only unfair to individuals, but also damaging to our economy.’
Under the committee’s proposals, objective justification of direct age discrimination will be permitted. This is so employers and service providers can treat people differently because of their age, where doing so can be shown to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. This is different to the position regarding the other protected grounds, however, where direct discrimination can never be justified.
The committee is also proposing that a number of exceptions in the prevention of discrimination ordinance – which currently protects people from discrimination on the grounds of disability, carer status, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation – are to be extended to cover age as well as introducing some new exceptions specifically related to age.
The limit on how old a person has to be to make a discrimination complaint has also been proposed to be lowered, and will differ depending on the field of the ordinance. These include over school-leaving age with respect to employment, aged 18 and over in relation to the provision of accommodation, and aged 16 and over in relation to the other fields in the ordinance.
If approved, an amendment ordinance will then be drafted and brought back to the States during the next term of government.
