What is objective justification?
Objective justification is what you need, if you want to stay on the right side of the law while treating people differently on grounds of age, unless you can claim: • you are acting within the general exemption (see question 2, above) • you are acting within one of the specific exemptions (see questions 12 and 13, above) • you are complying with other legislation containing age restrictions • you are undertaking ‘positive action’ (see question 1, above) • you have a ‘genuine occupational requirement’ for somebody of a particular age – for example, a young actor to play Romeo in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ To prove ‘objective justification’, for either direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of age, you must be able to show that what you are doing is an appropriate and necessary (‘proportionate’) means of achieving a ‘legitimate aim’ (see question 27). To prove that what you are doing is appropriate and necessary, you must be able to show: • that it will actually contribute towards achieve
