We’ve been banging on about it (on and off) since this time last year but this week finally saw the arrival of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, the biggest change in employment law for thirty years and one which will affect every single existing or potential employee. From now on, discrimination on the basis of age is illegal. It’s a simple as that. Whilst it’s too early to say whether the Law Society’s earlier predictions that the regulations will be ‘unworkable’ and hard to police are true, what wedo know from our US peers is that you can’t afford to ignore them. When similar age discrimination legislation was introduced state-side, there was a 40% hike in employment tribunal claims whilst in Ireland, age is now the basis for 19% of all employment cases. We’ve checked out the following websites to see who offers the best advice: To view the age regulations, visit the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/age.htm For good practice help, toolkits and information, including ’20 facts your business needs to know’ and a quick checklist to help you eradicate ageism from your workplace, visit the Age Positive website at http://www.agepositive.gov.uk/ And, if you’ve still got concerns that you’re not up to speed, then help is available by contacting the Acas Helpline on 0845 7474747 or at http://www.acas.org.uk/