The government clarified exemptions under the Age Discrimination legislation to ensure employers will not be liable under age discrimination law for the discriminatory effects of their pension schemes.

These exemptions, drawn up to amend the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations introduced on 1 October 2006, allow employers to keep existing sections of schemes that are not available to all staff. Firms are permitted to use maximum and minimum ages for joining schemes, and can continue to use most of the current practices relating to early retirement. Setting a maximum age for pension contributions will not be permissible, although it is acceptable to limit the total number of years of pensionable service.