Banning elderly people from swimming pools or fairgrounds because they are slow or forgetful is illegal, watchdog warns

  • New guidance launched on how to avoid breaking age discrimination law
  • Equality and Human Rights Commission warns businesses of risks
  • Nightclubs must be fair and mobile phone shops cannot refuse customers

By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor

PUBLISHED: 04:49 EST, 25 March 2014 | UPDATED: 05:50 EST, 25 March 2014


Banning elderly people from swimming pool lanes, fairground rides or mobile phone shops is illegal under discrimination laws, the equality watchdog has warned.

Shops, leisure centres, nightclubs, theatres and guest houses are warned against discriminating against customers on the basis of their age.

New guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission sets out dozens of ways companies, charities and public bodies could fall foul of the law.

Older people cannot be banned from swimming pools just because they swim too slowly and might get in the way, the eq2aulity watchdog has warned

Older people cannot be banned from swimming pools just because they swim too slowly and might get in the way, the eq2aulity watchdog has warned

A fairground which bans the over-70s from a centrifuge ride because memory problems means they will forget safety rules would be breaking the law.

A theatre would be guilty of age discrimination if it only gives entry to a variety show to people who remember what life was like during the Second World War.

 

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If gym imposed a fitness test for new members to do 30 press ups it could be breaking the law. The guidance suggests a 70 year-old-man could provide 'statistical evidence from a reputable source that people in his age group are unlikely to be able to do 30 press ups as upper body strength decreases with age'.

'If the gym cannot objectively justify the requirement, it will be unlawful,' the guidance adds.

A school swimming pool which bans a man in his 80s because they think he ‘will swim so slowly that he will get in the way of other pool users’ would also be in breach of the rules.

Fairgrounds and pubs cannot turn people away based solely on their age, the guidance states
Fairgrounds and pubs cannot turn people away based solely on their age, the guidance states

Fairgrounds and pubs cannot turn people away based solely on their age, the guidance states

A six-week consultation has now begun on the new guidance, before it is approved by Parliament. Mark Hammond, chief executive of the EHRC, said: ‘We hope the supplementary Code will be valuable and helpful to businesses, public authorities, courts, lawyers and advocates and we want to hear from as many people as possible so we can provide the best possible guidance.

‘This consultation will enable us to refine and improve our final product and provide high quality, relevant assistance in complying with equality laws.’

The guidance explains the law on age discrimination, but there are many opt-outs, exemptions and concessions which can apply.

It is possible to give less favourable treatment to certain age groups if it has a ‘legitimate aim’ which includes outcomes that are ‘socially positive or in the public interest’.

This includes allowing people of a certain age to socialise together, for instance at an over-50s social club or an under-30s rambling group.

It also covers the right for ‘people of certain age groups to enjoy peace and quiet or enabling them to enjoy music at high volume’.

OLDER AND WISER: HOW AGE DISCRIMINATION RULES WORK

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has produced new guidance on age discrimination for business, charities and state bodies.

It says the 70-page rule book is needed to ensure customers are protected and firms know the opt-outs and exemptions that can be used.

Here are some of the examples included in the new guidance, which will be voted on by Parliament:

A 50-year-old man walks into a bar

A man of 50 wearing jeans tries to enter a club which generally attracts a much younger clientele.

The person on the door turns the man away stating that he does not meet the club’s dress code. It later emerges that on the same evening a 25 year old man in jeans was allowed in by the same person.

This is evidence that the reason why the 50 year old was excluded was not primarily because of his dress but because of his age. 

It is likely to be direct age discrimination if the club which bans under 25s refuses to admit  a man age 30 because from his appearance they (wrongly) assume  he is under 25. 

Not-so-upwardly mobile

The manager of a mobile phone shop decides that the shop will no longer deal with retired customers. This age group tends to need more support and guidance from staff when they buy phones, and the manager wants to cut back on staff numbers to reduce overheads.

The aim of reducing costs alone would not be a legitimate one. The aim of less favourable treatment should not be based on a stereotype about age.

Sometimes a service provider may have some aims that are legitimate mixed with aims that are illegitimate, such as those linked to stereotypes.

Scream if you want the right to go faster

A fairground concessionaire believes that people over 70 have memory problems. This belief leads the concessionaire to ban them from the centrifuge ride because he thinks they will not remember safety instructions.

While the aim of reducing health and safety risks is legitimate, the concessionaire’s belief about this age group is based on a stereotype rather than on supporting evidence.

Therefore the aim of reducing safety risks for this age group cannot be a legitimate one. 

If you can't remember the war, you're not coming in

A variety theatre performance restricts admission to people who can remember what life was like during the Second World War. It claims this is a neutral requirement.

The reality is that only people who were alive during the War will gain admission.

This policy could amount to direct age discrimination against those too young to satisfy the requirement, unless it can be objectively justified. 

Life in the slow swimming lane

A secondary school has a swimming pool which it allows members of the public to use at weekends when pupils are not at school.

When a man in his 80s wants to use the pool, the school’s life guard refuses to let him do so because he thinks the man will swim so slowly that he will get in the way of other pool users.

This is likely to amount to direct age discrimination by the school, unless it can be objectively justified.

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Early April Fool joke?

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There seems to be a real push against the elderly from the government down. The last generation of people who actually worked all their lives and paid taxes which were squandered by successive governments seem to be the very ones who are the least respected. Can Soylent Green be far behind? And before younger people throw their hats in the air in glee, remember that your parents will get there one day - as will you

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Our local public pool (Better, Rugby) has a more covert method - it plays LOUD music constantly at such a volume that it nearly blasts you out of the water, so it is only used by young disco goers. Any complaints or requests to turn the volume down are met with confusion by the young adolescents who run the place.

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I love being old and having a swim. Nice and slow to hold everybody up. skin flaking off as I gradually decompose, swim in the wrong direction, gasping for breath ......but at least I go every day and pay for it .This helps to keep my local swimming pool going which is more than can be said for most of the younger ones who only go once in a blue moon, make a mess of the changing rooms , make a noise and nuisance of themselves, and in the main are crap swimmers.

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lol

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I used the shower at our local swimming club immediately after an old woman came out of it. I was disgusted to find that she had left a lump of her body waste in there. I don't care about them being slow swimmers, but being selfish and contaminating the facilities with their incontinence is just unforgivable.

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hahaha I'm in the pool every day and most younger people are the slow one. I might come to England to make my fortune hoping someone will kick me out of the pool and I can sue them!!!!!

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The elderly might be slower swimmers but they have the decency not pee in the pool.

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You might be misled by the constant slow dribble between gasps which can look less obvious.

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Pelhams Swimming Pool in Kinson BH10 does all it can to kick out the l elderly. Allegedly owned by the Church and the Council say no more :) :)

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I would be tempted to ban the elderly swimmers who take-up the whole lane doing a very wide-armed backstroke or the 2 old gals (with their flowered swimhats)that do a VERY sedate side-by-side breastroke with their heads out of the water so thay can chat!I just want to thunder up and down doing my 50 laps and be done asap-but still they will be ME in a few yrs so RESPECT!!!!!!t

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Yeah... stay abroad....

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Actually just ban baby boomers,a selfish lot

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There ought to be an age ban for 8-15 year olds on a keyboard, or, access to the internet, judging by this stupid boy.

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ha ha ha,good one Roy

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