Recruitment Agencies Age Discrimination

Theshopper

I work with a couple recruitment Agencies, but two weeks ago I received a call from an Educational Agency, to asking me to register, I started forms, and consultant rang, and went through some questions, but at the end asked my DOB, is that legal,I’m retired but still like to work, do recruitment agencies discriminate.  I don’t think I will hear back.

Brie

Like any recruitment, through an agency or directly with a company, legally they cannot discriminate on the basis of age or any other protected characteristic.  But people being people will always have their prejudices.  So if the recruiter is very young they will likely think you ancient and might form an opinion that decide that you're not up to the challenge.  It all links in with the idea that people hire people like themselves so men tend to hire men, etc.  

On the other hand the individual might have been impressed with the breadth of your experience and thought "golly, how could anybody have done all that?" and asked your age just to clarify that you could have done all that because you've been around that long. 

In a similar vein I was asked by a manager to interview an individual once even though I knew she would normally do the interviews and I knew she was available.  But the chap would be working on my team so it wasn't really too odd.  He came in to the interview leaning very heavily on a cane even though he was relatively young.  I almost asked him what that was about but decided it would have been rude, might be construed at possible discrimination and in any case it was a desk job so who cares.  Turned out after the interview (which he aced) he was the manager's brother in law and he was in the early stages on MS.  

born_again

Theshopper said:

I work with a couple recruitment Agencies, but two weeks ago I received a call from an Educational Agency, to asking me to register, I started forms, and consultant rang, and went through some questions, but at the end asked my DOB, is that legal,I’m retired but still like to work, do recruitment agencies discriminate.  I don’t think I will hear back.

Surely as you will require a enhanced DBS check for any educational role. DOB will be a required element to ensure that the check is on the correct person.
Same as it is in the financial & many other sectors.

Marcon

Theshopper said:

I work with a couple recruitment Agencies, but two weeks ago I received a call from an Educational Agency, to asking me to register, I started forms, and consultant rang, and went through some questions, but at the end asked my DOB, is that legal,I’m retired but still like to work, do recruitment agencies discriminate.  I don’t think I will hear back.

It is if they are using it for a legitimate purpose (eg monitoring the diversity of applicants for posts they are advertising). 

Grumpy_chap

Theshopper said:

I work with a couple recruitment Agencies, but two weeks ago I received a call from an Educational Agency, to asking me to register, I started forms, and consultant rang, and went through some questions, but at the end asked my DOB, is that legal,I’m retired but still like to work, do recruitment agencies discriminate.  I don’t think I will hear back.

It is legal to ask your DoB.
Recruiters need to verify identities of candidates, undertake DBS checks, etc.  These steps legitimately require DoB.
You don't mention which type of role in the educational sector you are seeking but there are many roles where recruitment is a challenge so discrimination on the basis of age or any other grounds when a capable candidate becomes available would be counter-productive to the recruiter.

EnPointe

Grumpy_chap said:

Theshopper said:

I work with a couple recruitment Agencies, but two weeks ago I received a call from an Educational Agency, to asking me to register, I started forms, and consultant rang, and went through some questions, but at the end asked my DOB, is that legal,I’m retired but still like to work, do recruitment agencies discriminate.  I don’t think I will hear back.

It is legal to ask your DoB.
Recruiters need to verify identities of candidates, undertake DBS checks, etc.  These steps legitimately require DoB.
You don't mention which type of role in the educational sector you are seeking but there are many roles where recruitment is a challenge so discrimination on the basis of age or any other grounds when a capable candidate becomes available would be counter-productive to the recruiter.

exactly the main  impact of the stuff about age discrimiation  and employment was  the whole thing where people used to ask for  7 , 10 , or even 15 -20 years experience for roles , as  not only  did it  discourage  younger people from applying for the roles it;s not actuallu a good measure of experience ...  you could have one year's experience 15 times in some  backwater and not have the practical experience that someone who has worked for  5 years in a busy and complex  location has... 

DullGreyGuy

Theshopper said:
 at the end asked my DOB, is that legal

Yes it's legal however age discrimination isn't and as such many companies won't ask for it in the general conversation but may ask for your age relative to groupings in their diversity monitoring questionnaire. If there is no need for it then you don't ask it to avoid the potential claim you're using it for the wrong purposes. 

In many industries, such as education and financial services, deeper background checks are required, such as DBS or credit referencing and for these DoB is required. Recruitment agencies often do the background checks on behalf of their client/your future employer.