Law at work 2021 - the trade union guide to employment law (July 2021)

Chapter 11

Age

[ch 11: page 437]

Age discrimination in redundancy selection can be lawful, but only if it can be objectively justified as a necessary and proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim (see Chapter 7). Reps should challenge the use of age-related selection criteria and ask the employer to justify their use, with specific evidence-based reasons rather than generalisations. An age discriminatory solution is more likely to be judged proportionate if it follows proper consultation with a recognised union (HM Land Registry v Benson [2011] UKEAT/0197/11).


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