The Employment Equality (Age) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2931) were laid before Parliament on 10 November and will come into force on 1 December 2006. After initially saying they were actively considering providing schemes with a 'compliance window', the DWP then issued a letter* on 17 November saying that it couldn't do so because it would be acting ultra vires. The Directive (2000/78/EC) does not permit a compliance window.
This means that schemes have only a matter of days to assimilate the new regulations, which vary somewhat from the draft set on which we reported earlier. The good news is that some of the anxieties expressed by the industry have, at last, been addressed. The bad news is that again the Government has eschewed simplicity for even greater complexity and prolixity - the final set of amending regulations are over half as long again as the draft set.
Yesterday new draft DTI/DWP Guidance was issued, which will impact on the final interpretation of the Regulations. (As yet unavailable on the web; contact Aries for a copy.)
The regulations as now laid amend the principal regulations (Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/1031)). As there has been no compliance window, Reg 11, Schedule 2 and those parts of Regs 7 and 24 which relate to pensions will come into force on 1 December 2006.
The major consideration is whether the new amending regs would address all the concerns raised during the brief consultation. Aries Members login for details of the major changes between the October draft and the final version of the Amendment No. 2 regs.