BUSINESSES are being urged to check their employment policies before age discrimination laws come into force later this year.

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 come into force on October 1 and will prohibit direct and indirect age discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

Mark Gardner, partner at Darlington law firm Latimer Hinks, said: "If you advertise jobs with an age range, for example between 20 and 30, or fail to hire someone you interview because they are too old or too young, you could fall foul of the new laws.

The draft regulations:

* Prohibit unjustified age discrimination in employment and vocational training;

* Require employers who set their retirement age below 65 to justify or change it;

* Introduce a new duty on employers to consider an employee's request to continue working beyond retirement;

* Require employers to inform employees in writing, and at least six months in advance, of their intended retirement date;

* Remove the upper age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.

The regulations also remove the age limits for statutory sick pay, maternity pay, adoption pay and paternity pay.

Mr Gardner said: "The legislation will protect employees against age discrimination for the first time. Employers should remove questions asking for age or date of birth on job application forms. This information should only appear on equal opportunities monitoring forms."