Age Discrimination: The New Law (1st edition)

Citation

Guth, J. (2008), "Age Discrimination: The New Law (1st edition)", International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 50 No. 6, pp. 333-334. https://doi.org/10.1108/17542430810919277

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations of 2006 (the Regulations) have been implemented to fulfil the European Law obligations under the Directive 2000/78 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. While the regulations follow a format familiar to employment lawyers by prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of age, the many possible exemptions and justifications make this a rather more complex area of law. A book such as this one, alongside the other numerous new publications on the subject, is therefore a welcome addition to my bookshelf.

This practical guide aims to offer answers to the key questions around age discrimination: What does age discrimination mean? How does it affect employers and employees? How will the new law affect pensions? And what rights and remedies are available under the Regulations. The book is logically set out starting with the background to the Regulations and then mapping out the concept of age discrimination. Chapter 3 begins to look at the nitty‐gritty of the Regulations by looking at discrimination in employment. The following chapters then deal with retirement and dismissal, benefits and education and vocational training. Chapter 7, written by Esther White, provides a competent and comprehensive overview of pension issues and the final chapter considers the available remedies. Helpfully the regulations and the ACAS guide for employers are included as Appendices to the book.

Each chapter is organised into paragraphs which are numbered for ease of reference. The subheadings also help navigate around the book and locate information quickly. A comprehensive and intuitive index also helps in this regard.

I like this book for a number of reasons. It provides enough contextual information to be interesting and useful but not so much context that it loses its appeal as a practical handbook. The book is well written and presents the information in an accessible way and in a logical format which makes it really easy to read or dip into for specific information. The text is written in a way that explains the legal content in a way which non‐lawyers should find easy to understand but it does not dumb down the content or patronise. Examples and extracts from cases are integrated into the text where appropriate and are used well throughout the book.

As with all books detailing the law, especially in this area, the law moves faster than the authors and publishers ever could. There will be a need to update this material frequently but the author have given himself a great platform to work from should he wish to do so in the future.

A number of books and guides have been published in this area over the last 18 months or so. The ones I have seen have generally been competitive and interesting. There is however something about this publication which makes me want to recommend it instead of others I have reviewed. I am not entirely sure what that is though. The book looks attractive and is very readable, the content is comprehensive and competently researched and put together. At £35 for a paperback edition it is not exactly cheap but then neither are its competitors. John Sprack's “A Guide to the Age Discrimination Regulations” covers the almost the same content, costs the same and is equally competent whereas James Davies’ Age Discrimination’ is very comprehensive but at £68 (hardback) is much more expensive.

I believe that this book is really useful for employment lawyers, staff working in human resources or personnel‐related fields, as well as those interested in age discrimination issues from an employers’ or managerial perspective. There are other books that do the same job out there and which one is “better” may just come down to personal preference. Personally, this book utilises a style and format that I am very comfortable with. I find its organisation intuitive and helpful, its content interesting, informative and accessible and perhaps most importantly, given that it aims to be a practical guide, I find this book a really useful signpost round the complexities of the Regulations.