A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales examined discrimination against older people in Wales in relation to employment, and the actions taken or planned by the Welsh Government to tackle the problem.
Source: Older People and Employment Discrimination, Equality of Opportunity Committee/National Assembly for Wales (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined the attitudes of employers towards older workers, and the range of interventions in place to prevent early exit and facilitate their continued employment. Only one-half of employers had a formal pro-age recruitment policy, and many were nervous of discussing age issues with workers as they approached retirement.
Source: Helen Barnes, Deborah Smeaton and Rebecca Taylor, An Ageing Workforce: The Employer's Perspective, Report 468, Institute for Employment Studies (01273 686751)
Links: Summary | Nuffield Foundation press release
Date: 2009-Oct
The High Court ruled that the default retirement age of 65 was not unlawful. But it also said that there was a 'compelling' case for considering whether a retirement age was necessary, and that the ruling took into account the government's decision to bring forward a review of the default retirement age from 2011 to early 2010.
Source: Age UK, R (on the application of) v Attorney General, High Court 25 September 2009
Links: Text of judgement | TUC press release | CBI press release | EHRC press release | CIPD press release | BCC press release | Personnel Today report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Sep
An article examined trends in the economic activity status of people aged 50-69 in the previous 12 years, and how it varied by demographic and socio-economic characteristics, household circumstances, and caring commitments.
Source: Ercilia Dini, 'Older workers in the UK: variations in economic activity status by socio-economic characteristics, household and caring commitments', Population Trends 137, Autumn 2009, Office for National Statistics, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Article | ONS press release
Date: 2009-Sep
A trade union report said that long-term unemployed older people were at risk of never working again without tailored support to help them back into work. Unemployed people over the age of 50 were 10 times as likely to be still out of work after 2 years than to be back in work.
Source: Older Workers and the Recession, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Report | TUC press release | Telegraph report | Community Care report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Aug
The Court of Appeal ruled that using length of service as one of the criteria in redundancy selection was justifiable in law, and was not unlawful age discrimination.
Source: Rolls-Royce Plc v Unite the Union, Court of Appeal 14 May 2009
Links: Text of judgement | People Management report
Date: 2009-May
An article examined recent trends in the characteristics and labour market participation of older workers, including: the employment rate of older workers and regional patterns; the influence of partners on labour market activity; the likely occupations, working patterns, employment status, and qualifications of older workers; and the older generation gender pay gap.
Source: Kamran Khan, 'Employment of the older generation', Economic & Labour Market Review, April 2009, Office for National Statistics, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Date: 2009-Apr
Researchers examined ways to develop messages that would be effective in changing the way people thought about how and when to retire; and in particular in encouraging them to stay in work up to and beyond the existing state pension age.
Source: Alan Hedges and Wendy Sykes with Carola Groom, Extending Working Life: Changing the Culture – Qualitative research into effective messages, Research Report 557, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2009-Apr
A new book examined measures taken by the state and employers to foster the employment of older workers in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, the United States of America, and Japan. It addressed the key issues that would influence public policy, exploring what workers over 50 wanted, the impact of the ageing workforce on employer policies, and the implications for governments in promoting and supporting extended working lives.
Source: Wendy Loretto, Sarah Vickerstaff and Philip White (eds.), The Future for Older Workers: New perspectives, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Apr
The European Court of Justice ruled that the question of whether employers could lawfully force people to retire at the age of 65 was a matter to be decided by the United Kingdom High Court. It clarified policy in the European Union directive on which age regulations were based, saying that social policy objectives, such as those related to employment policy and the labour market, might be considered 'legitimate' reasons under the European Union directive for enforcing a retirement age.
Source: Incorporated Trustees of the National Council on Ageing (Age Concern England) v Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, European Court of Justice (00 352 43031) Links: Text of judgement | ECJ press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | Help the Aged press release | EFA press release | CIPD press release | Guardian report | FT report | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report (1) | Personnel Today report (2) | Professional Pensions report | People Management report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar