THE AGE OF RIGHTS

Reviewed by Phillip Taylor MBE, LL.B (Hons) Barrister-at-Law

The Age Discrimination Regulations have generated enormous interest, probably because they will affect so many people (including me). They have triggered a radical culture change which will affect both employers and employees.

John Sprack has produced one of the first legal guides on regulations rather than statutes which will be valued not just by legal advisers but those in human resources, business and commerce because of its wide appeal and relevance, delivered in his customary crisp writing style which many of us will remember from the Bar Vocational Course and the training courses in employment law which he delivers. I have no doubt that there will be more guides to Regulations which spring from Council Directives and they are much needed.

This is a highly practical book, simple yet informative in style, which investigates the Directive's changes with clarity. John Sprack, whom many readers will know from his time as a tutor at the Inns of Court School of Law, details exactly how to avoid discrimination under the new regime and gives the full text of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, and the original European Directive 2000/78/EC on which these Regulations are founded.

It is clear that we are going to get more books of this nature in the future as Directives become part of British law (without, anti-EU critics will argue, much debate – but they would say that, wouldn't they). However, if one views the passage of the Regulations carefully, considerable consultation has taken place on what continues to be a thorny 'ageist' issue to some, and a welcome reprieve for others.

When Do the Regulations Apply?

The timetable has been exact which makes a welcome change for the passage of Directives, with draft Regulations published in July 2005, final drafts in March 2006 and a commencement date of 1st October 2006 thus meeting the extended deadline which had been set. The book:

• Enables practitioners to determine whether an organisation's recruitment practices discriminate on the ground of age;
  
• Provides the information legal advisers will now require when preparing, pursuing and defending claims of age discrimination;
  
• Demonstrates exactly what constitutes discrimination under the new regulations;
  
• Includes the Regulations, the original Directive and the ACAS guide for employers entitled "Age and the Workplace"; and
  
• Describes the effect of the regulations on pay, benefits, pensions, retirement and dismissal.