Age

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against people because of their age.

A person belonging to a particular age (for example 32 year old people) or range of ages (for example 18 to 30 year old people).

What is age discrimination?

This is when you are treated differently because of your age.

The treatment could be a one-off action or as a result of a rule or policy based on age. It doesn’t have to be intentional to be unlawful.

The Equality Act 2010 says that you must not be discriminated against because:

• you are (or are not) a certain age or in a certain age group
• someone thinks you are (or are not) a specific age or age group, this is known as discrimination by perception
• you are connected to someone of a specific age or age group, this is known as discrimination by association

Age groups can be quite wide (for example, ‘people under 50’ or 'under 18s'). They can also be quite specific (for example, ‘people in their mid-40s’). Terms such as ‘young person’ and ‘youthful’ or ‘elderly’ and ‘pensioner’ can also indicate an age group.

For more information on age discrimination you can visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission Website here.