Terms and conditions 



It is unlawful to discriminate over employment terms and conditions because of a protected characteristic, with the following exceptions: 



National minimum wage: The EA 10 allows employers to pay workers the national minimum wage based on age-related pay bands without a claim for age discrimination. See Chapter 4 for information about the national minimum wage. From 1 April 2016, a new pay band was added, for those aged 25 and over, which the government calls the “national living wage”. 



The government rationale for minimum wage age banding is that younger workers occupy a more vulnerable position in the labour market, with a greater need to acquire experience, and that if they were eligible for the full minimum wage, they would risk being priced out.


Service-related benefits: The EA 10 contains an exception for length of service-related benefits to prevent claims for age discrimination:



• where the length of service to trigger a benefit is five years or less, the employer is exempt from a claim for age discrimination;



• where the length of service required exceeds five years, the employer is allowed to justify the benefit by showing a reasonable belief that the scheme fulfils a business need, such as encouraging motivation or loyalty, or rewarding experience.



Enhanced redundancy payments: It is not age discrimination to provide an enhanced redundancy payment scheme, as long as it mirrors the statutory scheme for redundancy pay. For more information, see Chapter 11: Redundancy pay. 



Other exceptions: The EA 10 contains other exceptions relating to benefits based on marital status and civil partnership, non-contractual maternity benefits, personal pensions and childcare benefits.