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AGEISM IN THE WORKPLACE

At a time when there is a perceived skills shortage and pensions crisis, younger people are settling down later in life and firms are actively recruiting overseas, there are 2.8m people, a third of the population, between the ages of 50 and 65 years, out of work.   The number of men in this age group who are out of work has doubled over the past twenty years.  It is virtually impossible to get work over sixty five years of age when all one's employment rights cease and, if one is lucky enough to be kept on, death in service insurance cover stops.

Unless the draft regulations to comply with a European Directive are changed before they come into effect on the 1st October 2006 it will still be possible to have a retirement age of 65 years; although employers will have a duty to consider requests from employees to go on working. However this would not have helped Dinah Warnock, pictured, who had her contract cancelled before she could start because she was 67 years of age. It is almost inconceivable that in the twenty-first century with so much emphasis on social inclusion and non-discriminatory practice that older people can be excluded from the work place for no other reason than their date of birth – which has nothing what-so-ever to do with their ability to do the job. No other group of people can be totally excluded or discriminated against in this way. Older people are caught between a rock and a hard place, facing increasing poverty the longer they live and yet prevented from going out to earn more.

83% of the delegates at Age Concern Hampshire’s 2003 “Worthy Of Work and pensions” conference thought there should be no fixed retirement age and that people should be able to go on working for as long as they choose or are able. By our 2005 conference this had increased to 100%.

CAMPAIGNING:

1. To outlaw discrimination on grounds of age in the workplace;
2. To enable people to go on working for as long as they choose, or are able, and to retire when the time is right for them.
3. To remove the intended DEFAULT retirement age of 65 from the draft regulations before they become law on 1st October 2006.

Age Concern Hampshire offers a "Kitemark" to good employers of older people who:

1. Offer a guaranteed interview scheme to people over the age of 50 years, who meet the essential requirements of the person specification;
2. Employ at least one person (or 0.5% of their workforce if over 1000 employees) who is over the age of 65 years and still on a normal career progression.

The first award was presented to Councillor Jonathan Glen, Chairman of Hart District Council, by Her Grace the Duchess of Wellington, President of Age Concern Hampshire.

                                                         P&D Employment

Andover and District Mencap