The vast majority of small businesses have made no changes to the way they recruit and manage staff since the introduction of age discrimination legislation in October last year, according to employee relations organisation Acas.
The body claims only 17% of small companies have altered their employment and recruitment policies as a result of the legislation, with most small firms believing that they either already comply with the regulations or that the new rules do not apply to them.
Companies with fewer than 10 members of staff were even less likely to have made provisions, with just 6% saying they had made changes as a result of the legislation.
Two-thirds of the 750 respondents to the Acas poll thought they were well informed about the legislation, the findings showed, but 30% could not correctly answer the question of whether it was still legal to enforce a retirement age.
Over one in 10 respondents that had made no changes admitted age had played a part in their decision on whether to give someone a job, the survey found, while just 8% were either ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ concerned about the potential impact breaching the new age laws could have on their business.
“These results are worrying as they highlight a potential cost timebomb in smaller companies in terms of potential tribunal cases, because the age laws have not been considered,” said Acas chair Rita Donaghy. “Age discrimination can affect all employees, young and old, and to comply can be very simple and quick.
“We are urging businesses to act now, helping them to put in place policies that minimise the risk of prosecution and to make employment decisions on the basis of talent and skills alone,” she added.
Acas recommends small companies take the following simple steps to minimise the risks of them falling foul of the new regulations:
Recruitment advertisements: avoid specifying length of experience as this disadvantages certain age groups
Application forms: ask for date of birth on monitoring forms only and use skills-based forms
Selection procedures: train managers to avoid stereotypes
Training: make sure it is open to all employees
Performance appraisal: set the same standards regardless of age
Redundancy policy: review your policies. Using length of service to select employees for redundancy is likely to be discriminatory
Equality policy: add age to your current policy