In response to widespread calls from trade organisations the government has produced the Employment Equality (Age) (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2006, which have now been laid before Parliament. The amendments will come into force as early as the 1st of December 2006 in order to comply with european law, although the government is currently looking at the possibility of a compliance window. The regulations make substantial amendments to Schedule 2 of the main age legislation, clarifying and extending many of the exemptions relating to trustees and managers of pension schemes.

The previous draft of the legislation would have resulted in a number of common pensions practices becoming illegal. Companies would have been prevented from allowing existing members to continue to accrue rights in sections of schemes not available to all employees. Furthermore the regulations were not consistent with Inland Revenue taxation limits and would have forced companies to reduce significantly the pension of many employees who chose early retirement.

The Confederation of British Industry has hailed these amendments as a victory for common sense, the deputy director-general of the CBI remarking: “We are relieved the government responded to our concerns about the previous set of regulations concerning pensions and age discrimination.

They would have been an administrative nightmare for employers and ultimately left many employees, especially older workers, worse off."

Age discrimination laws came into effect on the 1st of October 2006. To ensure compliance employers should:

• Update equal opportunities policies and retirement procedures
• Review training and promotion opportunities and employee long service benefits
• Examine entry criteria to retirement benefit, pension and health schemes
• Review recruitment policies and interview criteria
• Change retirement age to not less than 65