Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) has warned businesses to review their recruitment practices in order to comply with new age discrimination regulations.
The regulations are due to come into force on October 1.
The insurance law firm said industry jobs advertisements might specify that candidates should have a preferred range of experience, for example "2-4 years underwriting experience". According to RPC, companies who advertise in this way may face a challenge under the new regulations as this could discriminate against younger or older candidates who fall outside this range.
Simon Henthorn, an employment law specialist with RPC, said: "If you reject an applicant because you think your team might be more comfortable working with somebody in a particular age range or because you are worried, say, that an older applicant won't fit in with a youthful team, you could be breaching the new regulations."
He added the small insurance companies without dedicated HR departments that will suffer the most.
