(Fast) Food for thought – age discrimination law comes to Jersey
Service area ⁄ Employment, Pensions and Incentives
Location ⁄ Jersey
Date ⁄ September 2016
Jersey’s regulations relating to age discrimination (the
Discrimination (Age) (Jersey) Regulations 2016) come into force
today - 1 September 2016.
(Fast) Food for thought – age discrimination law
comes to Jersey
A copy of the Regulations can be accessed here.
Carey Olsen’s summary of the provisions of the Regulations
and what they mean for employers can be accessed here.
Much has been written about age discrimination and the
supposed burden which the new legislation imposes on
employers. One good news story which has been reported in
recent weeks concerns a study by the Lancaster University
Management School of more than 400 McDonald’s
restaurants. The study reported significant benefits from
employing employees over 60. The research (summarised
helpfully here by the Employer’s Forum on Age) reported a
number of benefits from employing older workers, including:
• Over two thirds of respondents (69%) said later life workers
empathise with and connect well with customers.
• Almost half (47%) cited later life workers’ ability to go the
extra mile to deliver the best possible customer service.
• 44% believed later life workers brought mentoring skills to
the workplace, helping younger colleagues develop and
mature.
Changing demographics will mean that most if not all
employers in Jersey will in see a shift in the age profile of their
workforces over the next 10 years. As the Lancaster University/
McDonalds research demonstrates, there is often a strong
business case for embracing age diversity – a case which may
not always be immediately apparent to employers.
Outlawing discrimination is of course laudable and provides
vital protection to often vulnerable employees. However, the
real gains for employers lie in embracing diversity and making
it work for everyone - the priority should not be to shut anyone
out of the workforce but rather to encourage employers to find
skilled workers wherever they may be, irrespective of race,
gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability - or age.
Amendment to the maximum weekly wage for
redundancy payments
Under Article 60C of the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003, the
maximum weekly wage figure for redundancy calculation
purposes tracks the mean average weekly earnings published
by the Statistics Unit of the States of Jersey. The latest data
(available here) shows that the mean average weekly earnings
of full-time equivalent employees at £700 per week. The data
was published on 26 August 2016 and applies for calculation
purposes a month later – whilst the language in the law about
the timeframe is less than clear, we would recommend that the
new figures should be used for effective dates of termination
falling on or after 25 September 2016.
O FFSH OR E L AW S PEC I A LI ST S
B R ITIS H V I R G I N I S L A N D S
CA PE TOW N
H O N G KO N G
CAYMA N ISL A N D S
LON DON
GUE RN SE Y
SI N GAP ORE
JERS EY
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Visit our employment, pensions
and incentives team at
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Please note that this briefing is only
intended to provide a very general
overview of the matters to which it
relates. It is not intended as legal
advice and should not be relied on as
such. © Carey Olsen 2017
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