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Are You Ready For Age Awareness?

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 became law on October 1. This is the most momentous piece of employment legislation since the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Are you ready?

The introduction of the new legislation means that every organisation in the UK will have to take action to create age-inclusive working practices.

Most organisations are completely unprepared for this legislation. Many are unclear about how it will affect them. This ignorance and sense of panic is causing a lot of people to view the legislation as yet another bureaucratic inconvenience.

However, if you look beyond the bureaucracy, this legislation could ignite a huge cultural shift in the UK, helping us to open up employment opportunities and to value the contribution of each and every working person, regardless of age.

What is age discrimination?

Age discrimination is a prejudice against a person or group of people on the grounds of their age. If this prejudice becomes the driving force behind a decision, it is considered age discrimination.

Although typically associated with older people, age discrimination can happen to anyone. It can involve being passed over for a job or promotion on the grounds that an employer thinks you are too young or too old to do a certain job.

Age discrimination is a very real problem. Recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that age discrimination is a significant problem in the workplace, with 59% of UK employees saying they have been disadvantaged because of their age.

Age discrimination in employment can:

• affect anybody regardless of how old they are
• reduce employment prospects for older people, younger people and parents
• favour people in the age group 25 to 35
• prevent the full consideration of abilities, potential and experience of employees.

What are the new regulations?

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 will:

• ban age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training
• ban unjustified retirement ages of below 65
• remove the current age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.

They will also introduce:

• a right for employees to request working beyond retirement age and a duty on employers to consider that request
• a new requirement for employers to give at least six months notice to employees about their intended retirement date so that individuals can plan better for retirement, and be confident that 'retirement' is not being used as cover for unfair dismissal

Have you woken up yet?

Recent research from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that awareness of the impending regulations is poor. The DWP study suggests that employers in all sectors should not only be auditing their practices as a matter of urgency in order to protect themselves from potential discrimination claims, but should also be publicising the fact that they are undertaking such audits.

Age needs to be recognised as a key issue in the workplace. More and more organisations have to wake up to the fact that demographics will change dramatically over the next ten years. This will have an impact not only on where your workforce comes from, but also on what your customer base will look like. For example, are you aware that 80% of the UK's asset wealth is owned by the over 50s?

The commercial and cultural impact of age discrimination is challenging all of us to look towards a new reality. Are you ready for what's around the corner?

The facts

• In 2006 there are more 55-64 year olds than 16-24 year olds for the first time
• Between 1986 and 2006, the number of men aged 16-24 fell by 26%, and the number of women by 30%
• Between 1986 and 2006, the numbers of 35-44 year old men increased by 19% and the number of women in this age group by 39%
• Life expectancy increases one more year approximately every four years
• There are 1 million fewer people in their 20s than ten years ago
• In 2006, 45-59 year olds form the largest group in the labour force
• 68% of employers seeking skilled staff are experiencing recruitment difficulties
• Nine out of 10 people aged 50 and over receive no training from their employer at all
• At least 40% of people who retired early feel that they were forced to against their will and would rather have continued to work
• A significant proportion of IT professionals think the term older worker can be applied to someone younger than 35
• Close to half of young workers say they've been held back at work because of their age

The business case

The business case for age awareness and age diversity is common sense.

• The UK workforce is growing steadily older, which is causing the labour pool to contract
• Employers seeking skilled staff are experiencing chronic recruitment difficulties
• If they are not doing so already, your competitors will tackle their mounting recruitment crises by headhunting your top talent
• This could threaten your company's bottom line.

By making a robust business case for age diversity, many employers have driven significant change within their organisation. The business case is based on a simple premise - people are living longer than ever before and are having fewer children. As a result, the population is ageing. From an employment perspective, the dramatic drop in numbers of young people coming into the labour market is beginning to have a huge impact on the pool from which employers are able to recruit new employees.

Ageism is deeply entrenched in society and the workplace. Valuing people of all ages within the workforce and regarding them all as a sustainable rather than a disposable resource is essential for our future prosperity.

The business benefits of a mixed-age workforce are now widely recognised. There is clear evidence that both staff turnover and absenteeism are reduced and that motivation and commitment are improved in organisations employing people of all ages.

In addition to the business case, many employers are committed to removing age discrimination from their policies and practices because it is simply the right thing to do. There is a very clear social justice case for equality, it is simply unfair to treat someone differently because of their age, rather than their skills and abilities.

The benefits of age awareness

• Challenge ageist stereotypes
• Make fairer employment decisions
• Benefit from a skilled and motivated workforce
• Recruit and promote solely on ability and potential
• Identify new markets and get closer to customers
• Become an employer of choice in an increasingly competitive labour market
• Build a reputation as an ethical and intelligent employer
• Lower recruitment costs
• Reduced costs as a result of improved employee retention
• Access to a wider talent pool
• Increased return on investment in staff
• Retained corporate knowledge

Ten top tips for age awareness

1. Remember that age discrimination affects younger as well as older people.
2. Monitor the age profile of your organisation at regular intervals to identify evidence of unfair discrimination against particular age groups.
3. Challenge the use of age and age-related criteria in every aspect of employment decision-making.
4. Educate and train all staff about the implications of age discrimination.
5. Remove age limits from recruitment advertising. Avoid words such as 'young' or 'mature.'
6. Use a mixed age interview panel in the selection process wherever possible.
7. Promote individuals on merit, not age.
8. Ensure that learning and development opportunities are available to everyone in your organisation.
9. Redundancy decisions should be based on objective, job-related criteria. Age is not a reason to make someone redundant.
10. Your retirement policy should be fair and designed to meet individual needs. Consider flexible or extended retirement options where possible.

About the author

David Deegan is a consultant with learning solutions specialist, Academee. He has over 12 years experience in the design and delivery of learning and development and is an expert in the field of diversity and inclusion. David welcomes your views on this article and can be contacted at david.deegan@academee.com.