Age Discrimination at Work: Your Rights Under the Equality Act

Age discrimination at work is regulated mainly by the Equality Act 2010. Age is a protected characteristic. That protects people of every age - not only older workers - in employment and, with related rules, in recruitment and vocational training.

This guide is for England and Wales. It sits under the wider workplace discrimination map but focuses on age-specific issues: justification, retirement, redundancy selection, and stereotypes in hiring.

What kinds of age claim exist?

Direct discrimination

Treating you less favourably because of age (including your perceived age, or age group). Example patterns tribunals have examined: refusing training "because you are close to retirement"; rejecting an applicant as "too young to manage".

Special feature of age: direct discrimination can sometimes be justified if the employer shows a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. That is stricter than "we preferred someone else". Cost-saving alone is often a weak legitimate aim if used bluntly. Aims the courts have accepted as capable of justifying age-based treatment include workforce planning, giving younger staff a route to progress, and preserving dignity by avoiding capability rows at the end of a career - but the employer must still show the specific measure was a proportionate way to achieve that aim on the facts, not just recite the label.

Indirect discrimination

A provision, criterion or practice applied to everyone that puts people of a particular age group at a particular disadvantage, and which the employer cannot justify as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Examples that can arise (facts always matter):

• Length-of-service benefits that heavily favour older cohorts (sometimes justified, sometimes not)
• Physical tests unrelated to the actual job that screen out older workers
• "Digital native" requirements that are really age proxies

Harassment

Unwanted conduct related to age that violates dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment - for example repeated "jokes" about being past it or wet behind the ears.

Victimisation

Being treated badly because you complained about age discrimination, supported someone else's complaint, or did another protected act under the Equality Act.

Where age issues commonly appear

Age and unfair dismissal

You can have:

• An Equality Act claim about discriminatory treatment or dismissal, and/or
• An unfair dismissal claim if you are an employee with the qualifying period (or an automatic unfair scenario)

They use different tests and remedies. Ordinary unfair dismissal still needs the qualifying period in most cases; age discrimination does not. See unfair dismissal.

Evidence that helps

• Job advert and person specification
• Interview notes and scoring
• Emails or messages referring to age, retirement, or "fresh blood"
• Policies on retirement, flexible working, redundancy
• Comparators - who was treated better and their approximate age/service
• Your grievance and the outcome

Keep contemporaneous notes. A DSAR can surface HR commentary you never saw.

Proving it: the burden of proof

Direct age discrimination is rarely admitted in writing, and the law recognises that. Under the Equality Act 2010, if you can show facts from which a tribunal could conclude that age discrimination happened, the burden shifts to the employer to prove that age played no part in the treatment. That is why small signals matter - a stray comment about "energy" or "freshness", an advert aimed at "recent graduates", a redundancy pool that quietly tracks age. You are not expected to prove what was in a manager's head; you are assembling a picture that calls for an innocent explanation, and then testing whether the employer can give one.

Time limits

Most Equality Act employment claims must reach the tribunal within 3 months less 1 day of the act (or the last act in a continuing course), after ACAS Early Conciliation rules. The limit is strict. Use the deadline calculator for an indicative date and read tribunal deadlines.

Remedies

Successful discrimination claims can include:

• Declaration
• Compensation for financial loss
• Injury to feelings (Vento bands - see compensation guide)
• Sometimes recommendations

There is no ordinary unfair-dismissal-style statutory cap on discrimination compensation in the same way. That does not mean unlimited awards in practice - evidence of loss still matters. The free claim value calculator can give a rough ballpark only.

Practical steps if you think age played a part

1. Write a dated note of what was said and by whom.
2. Keep the advert, emails and policies.
3. Raise issues through grievance procedures where safe and useful (ACAS Code still matters for some compensation adjustments in related claims).
4. Diary the tribunal clock before you wait for "one more meeting".
5. Consider early conciliation via ACAS if a claim is likely.

Key takeaway

Age discrimination law protects younger and older workers from less favourable treatment, unjustified policies, harassment and victimisation. Direct age discrimination is unusual among protected characteristics because justification can apply - but justification is a real test, not a slogan. Move early on evidence and deadlines; the stereotypes that hurt you often leave a paper trail if you look for it.