Q. Insurance companies not bound by the age discrimination regulations: a
problem for employers?
A. The issue of insurance cover for employees and workers has exercised many employers and recruiters, because insurance companies are not bound by the provisions of the age regulations. The cost of insurance for workers in certain sectors and age groups can often therefore be prohibitively high. Furthermore, case law on justification in other areas of discrimination law shows that employers cannot rely on considerations of cost alone when justifying indirect discrimination. This suggests that the cost of insurance premiums alone will not be an acceptable consideration when seeking to objectively justify a refusal to recruit a worker of a certain age or age group. However the judgment in the case of Cross v British Airways plc, in which the question of the justification of indirect sex discrimination was considered, throws a ray of light onto this question. It states that although cost alone is not sufficient justification, it may be able to be put into the balance together with other justification for the discrimination.