Employers are permitted (but not compelled), where more than one candidate for a job or promotion is equally qualified, to choose a candidate on the basis that they are from a protected group, which includes age. However, to engage in positive action, the employer needs to have identified a need for that action, for example evidence of under-representation in their workplace.

Also, the Equality Act 2010 does allow positive measures to prevent or compensate for disadvantages linked to a protected characteristic, such as age. This could include advertising positions in publications whose readership is known to be of a particularly under-represented group in the employer’s workforce, or encouraging people of a particular age group to take up training opportunities in an industry.