The beginning of October marked the first anniversary of the UK age discrimination laws. Many law firms had predicted an era of employers swamped by claims from their workforce and while there have not been many high-profile cases, there have been as many as 2,000 tribunal claims filed. One year on, it is important to identify the impact of the new rules on the legal sector and to consider how employers can ensure they are staying on the right side of the law.
It is hoped that in 25 years’ time discriminating on the basis of age will seem as shocking to most of us as discriminating against someone on the basis of race is now. However, in spite of the law being a diverse employer, age discrimination within many law firms is still embedded deeply within company culture. It is vital that the individual firms address these issues.
