News
October 2011
The era of forced retirement is now at an end – 3 October 2011
1st October marked the end of a period of compulsory retirement using the Default Retirement Age (DRA), Denise Keating, CEO of leading age campaigners, the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), comments:“Tomorrow is a key date in the abolition of compulsory retirement. It is an incredible leap forward on employment practices and great news for individuals. ...More Information
The Employers Forum on Age joins The Age Action Alliance – 3 October 2011
Coming together to improve the lives of older peopleThe Employers Forum on Age (EFA) announced that it is joining dozens of organisations from across the voluntary, private and public sectors who are coming together to celebrate the lives of older people and address the challenges of our ageing society.The Age Action Alliance, launched today to coincide with Older People’s Day celebrations, will work together to improve the lives of older people and help transform communities into better places to grow older. ...More Information
September 2011
Older People's Day 2011 – 30 September 2011
Older People's Day is on 1 October, and the Office of National Statistics has published a special bulletin to coincide with the event. ...More Information
August 2011
Employers Forums on Age and Belief to relaunch as the Employers Network For Equality & Inclusion in October – 5 August 2011
First not-for-profit UK-wide organisation to cover all nine diversity and inclusion strandsTwo diversity and inclusion specialists recruited to drive forward the next phase of growth The Employers Forums on Age and Belief (EFA and EFB) today announced that they are relaunching as the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (enei) in October 2011. The new organisation will be the first of its kind in the UK. ...More Information
July 2011
Proportion of older people staying in work grows – 21 July 2011
The number of people working in their 50s and 60s has significantly increased over the past 20 years, according to new data from the TUC.
In April 1992, 56.5 per cent of people aged between 50 and 64 were in employment – a figure which rose to 64. ...More Information
Strong support networks key for young people looking for employment – 18 July 2011
Guidance and support from families and schools are vital tools in getting more young people into employment, according to the outcome of a roundtable event organised by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA).The meeting, which focussed on young people who are NEET ( "Not in Education, Employment, or Training"), was the fourth and final in a series of discussions to explore the issues facing young people as they begin their careers. ...More Information
Raising state pension age alone will not be enough to reduce UK public debt in the long term, says PwC – 8 July 2011
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s is expected to publish its first detailed report on long-term fiscal sustainability next week. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ analysis, reducing UK public debt to pre-crisis levels by 2050 will entail additional tax rises and/or spending cuts of around £20 billion, and an increase in the SPA to 70 by 2046, rather than 68 as currently planned.
If current policies were maintained, PwC projects that UK public debt would be 90% of GDP and rising by 2050 due to the costs of an ageing population. Even if the UK state pension age were raised to 70 years by 2046 public debt would be projected to rise from the middle of the next decade to reach around 80% of GDP by 2050. ...More Information
June 2011
Redundancy Survey by Wise Owls – 21 June 2011
A survey conducted by Wise Owls a leading over 50s employment & support agency, has shown 46% of over 50s recently made redundant felt they were coerced, and less than one third of them were able to find re-employment.
The survey was conducted as part of Wise Owls on-going Age Equality Campaign with the intention of looking into redundancy statistics in more detail. Earlier this year Wise owls had produced a research project looking into ageism in the public sector particularly looking at County and London Borough Councils. ...More Information
Access to funding creates barrier to apprenticeships – 15 June 2011
More must be done help organisations access government funding for apprenticeships, according to the outcome of a roundtable event organised by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA).
The meeting, which focussed on apprenticeships, was one of a series of discussions to explore the issues facing young people as they begin their careers. It was attended by delegates from leading employers BT, Asda and IBM, as well as representatives from Beachcroft, The National Apprenticeships Service and London Workforce Development. ...More Information
New Chief Executive for the EHRC – 2 June 2011
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has today announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive.On 2 June the Commission announced the appointment of Mark Hammond as chief executive. He joins the Commission after an extensive career in local and central government. ...More Information
May 2011
New Guide on Managing Age – 18 May 2011
An updated guide has been produced by Middlesex University for CIPD and TUC, outlining HR approaches that are consistent with equality and employment legislation following the removal of the Default Retirement Age in 2011. ...More Information
Government consults on modern workplaces – 16 May 2011
The direction of Government policy in employee relations matters so far might be considered to be overly pro-business, but a consultation launched today redresses the balance by taking forward Coalition commitments on parental leave and flexible working.The Government has today launched a consultation on Modern Workplaces, in which it sets out proposals for substantial reform in two key policy areas:Flexible Parental LeaveThis is in line with the Government’s Coalition commitment to encourage shared parenting. The proposals will allow mothers and fathers more equal access to paid parental leave - encouraging both parents to take an active role in caring for their young child; and increasing participation in the labour market by helping both parents to retain their attachment to the workplace. ...More Information
Employment law review – 13 May 2011
Hard on the heels of its consultation on reform of Employment Tribunals and its plans to increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, the Government has announced that further areas of employment law "red tape" will be considered for review this year. In a speech at the Institute for Economic Affairs on Wednesday the Employment Minister, Ed Davey, signalled that the Government now intends to consider reforming the current rules on collective redundancy consultation periods, the TUPE Regulations and the unlimited compensation which may be awarded by employment tribunals in discrimination cases, saying: “The areas we are reviewing are priorities for employers. We want to make it easier for businesses to take on staff and grow. ...More Information
Calculating future losses in discrimination cases – 13 May 2011
A Court of Appeal judgment this week significantly impacts the way in which tribunals should set about calculating future losses in discrimination cases.In calculating future losses the loss should be assessed up to the point in time when an employee would have a better than evens chance of getting another job on similar terms, and losses after that date should be ignored: only in exceptional circumstances should a career long loss be entertained.Rachel Dinely of Beachcroft LLP says the ruling (in Wardle v Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank) gives some comfort to employers, and her assessment of the case can be found here. ...More Information
Guidance on the Public Sector Equality Duty – 6 May 2011
With a hiatus before the Regulations setting out the light-touch specific duties take effect, public authorities have a hard task in establishing what they need to do to comply with the new duty. The Government Equalities Office has issued revised “quick start” guidance setting out the essentials of what is required – which can be downloaded here – but it’s pretty thin on practical content. The guidance which was issued by the EHRC in January (accessible here) is much more comprehensive, but it needs to be rewritten in many areas because of the Government’s u-turn on the specific duties. ...More Information
Embrace change to boost employment for all ages – 4 May 2011
Denise Keating, Chief Executive of EFA quoted in People Management article.Jobs for life may be gone, but ‘flexi and part-time work could fill void’. ...More Information
April 2011
Employer Justified Retirement Age survey – 18 April 2011
With the abolition of the Default Retirement Age employers will in future be able to operate a retirement age for employees only if it is capable of objective justification, meaning that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. We are interested to know the extent to which employers are planning to continue to use a retirement age in the future. Please fill in our short survey.Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool. ...More Information
EFA's DRA Campaign Shortlisted for SABRE Awards – 13 April 2011
The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) with Lansons Communciations have been shortlised in the Public Affairs category for the SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation) Awards for the Campaign to Abolish the Default Retirement Age.The SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation) Awards is an international competition which seeks to recognise Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation. ...More Information
Is the Equality Act red tape? – 11 April 2011
Last week the Government launched Red Tape Challenge - an initiative to encourage members of the public, businesses and community organisations to comment on whether the burden of current regulations is excessive.David Cameron launched the Challenge by saying:"We need to tackle regulation with vigour, both to free businesses to compete and create jobs, and give people greater freedom and personal responsibility."Of course we need proper standards, for example in areas like fire safety and food safety. ...More Information
RIP DRA (1 October 2006 - 5 April 2011) – 6 April 2011
The Regulations repealing the Default Retirement Age come into effect today.Yesterday (5 April 2011) was the last day on which an employer could use the DRA procedure to notify an employee who is over 65, or will attain that age before 30 September this year of retirement.From now on, retirement will cease to be a fair reason for dismissal and the retirement of an employee at any age will have to be capable of objective justification. ...More Information
Towards a new state pension – 5 April 2011
The Government has launched a consultation on its proposals to reform the state pension system.At present the state pension system is made up of a basic state pension, additional state pension (state second pension ( S2P) or its predecessor (SERPS)), and pension credit. It is intended to replace this with a simple flat-rate contributory state pension, either by accelerating the pace of existing reforms or, more radically, by combining basic state pension and state second pension into a single-tier structure. ...More Information
Former Cabinet Minister James Purnell Calls For Business To Lead The Way In Changing Attitudes To Equality – 1 April 2011
Progression without Prejudice event hosted by Employers Forum on Age to explore discrimination in the workplace due to unconscious biasCompanies must do what they can to attract people from different backgrounds with different abilitiesBusinesses play a major role when it comes to eliminating prejudice in the workplace, James Purnell, former Labour Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, told the audience at the Employers Forum on Age and Belief (EFA & EFB) annual conference, earlier today (Wednesday 30 March). When business is united on something, it is hard for the government to override it; attitudes are often first to change and government in turn responds, he stated. ...More Information
March 2011
One in Six UK Employees Discriminated Against Because Of Favouritism in the Workplace – 31 March 2011
A new study from the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) revealed that one in six (16%) workers feel they have been discriminated against when applying for a job or promotion at some point in their career because of favouritism in the workplace.The findings from the research back up a little-known theory that there is a tendency for people to recruit workers who bear similarities to themselves or to others in their company and this is done, for the most part, unconsciously. In total, over a third (35%) of respondents felt they have been discriminated against when trying to move company or applying for a more senior position in the same company. ...More Information
The future of the EHRC – 28 March 2011
The Government has published proposals to reform the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.The EHRC survived the “bonfire of the quangos” but it was widely expected that it would be substantially reformed by the Government.Proposals have now been published in a consultation document, which can be downloaded from the GEO website here. ...More Information
EFA & EFB Awards 2011 - Open for Entries – 16 March 2011
The EFA & EFB Awards provide a fantastic opportunity for leading employers to showcase and share innovative ways in which they have tackled prejudice and overturned outdated practices in the workplace.Open to all employers; the Awards recognise the achievements of organisations that have taken a lead in challenging age discrimination and/or religion or belief discrimination. ...More Information
Employers Get Creative with Graduate Recruitment – 10 March 2011
EFA publishes an update on Graduate Recruitment covering the current recruitment environment for graduates, a briefing on the changes to University funding and employers’ reactions to the changes likely to take place in the graduate market. ...More Information
Important update on DRA transitional arrangements – 4 March 2011
There has been widespread comment that the draft Regulations laid on 16 February to repeal the DRA were defective.The issue was that the transitional arrangements applied only to employees who will attain the age of 65 in the period 6 April 2011 to 30 September 2011, and not to those who had already attained the age of 65 before the date the Regulations will come into effect. This meant that employers were at risk of claims of unfair dismissal and age discrimination in completing some retirements under the DRA procedure. ...More Information
Talent Pipeline Conference - Speakers Announced – 2 March 2011
Alan Christie, Director of Policy, Equality & Human Rights Commission; Global perspective: Karen Ward, Ashridge Consulting; Innovating Education in the UK: Prof Christian Dustmann, UCL; Graduates: John Carmody, BIS; Unconscious bias: Dr Pete Jones; Opening Up Talent for Business Success: Claire McCartney & Dianah WormanProgramme & Speakers:Keynote speaker: James PurnellEHRC: Alan Christie, Director of Policy, Equality & Human Rights CommissionGlobal perspective: Karen Ward, Business Director, Ashridge ConsultingInnovating Education in the UK: Christian Dustmann, Professor of Economics, University College LondonGraduates: John Carmody, Office for Graduate Opportunities, Department for Business, Innovation & SkillsUnconscious bias: Dr Pete Jones, Shire Professional Chartered PsychologistsOpening Up Talent for Business Success: Claire McCartney, Adviser, Resourcing and Talent Planning & Dianah Worman, Diversity AdviserEmployer Experiences: Tanith Dodge, HR Director, Marks and Spencer; Alyson Sparks, HR Director for Resourcing; Dennis Gissing, Head of People Practice, BT; Richard Hamer, Education Director & Head of Early Career Programmes, BAE Systems.The event will be chaired by Mike Hawes, Director of HR, B&Q. ...More Information
February 2011
Default Retirement Age – 17 February 2011
Final draft Regulations to repeal the default retirement age (DRA) provisions were laid in Parliament on 16 February.The Regulations (which can be downloaded here) are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure requiring approval in both Houses of Parliament and are scheduled to come into effect on 6 April 2011.From that date employers will no longer be able to issue notifications of retirement using the DRA procedure. ...More Information
Seldon case goes to the Supreme Court – 14 February 2011
More uncertainty for employers thinking of justifying a retirement ageLast week the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal to Mr Leslie Seldon who claims that he was the subject of unlawful age discrimination when, as a partner, he was forced to retire from his law firm in December 2006 because he had reached the age of 65.The case is of wide significance because following the forthcoming repeal of the DRA the legality of any compulsory retirement will be assessed by reference to the same objective justification test as is in dispute here, ie whether the retirement is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. ...More Information
The Future of the EHRC – 8 February 2011
Trevor Phillips, Chair of the EHRC, gave a speech at the Policy Exchange on the future of the Commission and why equality and human rights are essential to economic recovery. You can read or listen to his speech on the EHRC website. ...More Information
January 2011
Don't fear the DRA, article by Alan Beazley – 31 January 2011
Employers have nothing to fear from the removal of the Default Retirement Age says Alan Beazley.http://www. ...More Information
Protection against discrimination does not extend to volunteers – 28 January 2011
The Court of Appeal handed down a judgment this week which confirms that volunteers are not generally protected against discrimination.The court ruled against a woman who claimed she had been discriminated against on grounds of disability, after she was told to stop volunteering for Mid-Sussex Citizens Advice.The woman, named only as "X" by the court, originally lost an employment tribunal hearing against Citizens Advice over the matter in November 2009. ...More Information
Councils culling older workers - new research reveals – 20 January 2011
Over 50s council workers are being made redundent at over 3 times the rate of the their younger counterparts, new research has revealed. The stark findings came to light when Wise Owls, the leading over 50s support agency, used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain statistics on the age diversity of employees within all the National and London borough councils. ...More Information
EFA Launches Series of Young People Think Tank Events – 19 January 2011
What is the future for young people in the workplace? The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) has launched a series of roundtable discussions about ‘The future of young people in the workplace' to explore the issues facing young people as they begin their careers, including access to funding and training, and employer experiences in recruitment. ...More Information
Government scraps retirement age – 13 January 2011
After 1st October this year, nobody will be forced out of the workplace because of their age. This is good news for older workers and employers have nothing to fear from the removal retirement ages.The Government's response to the consultation on the phasing out of the default retirement age (DRA), published today, (Thursday 13th January) will see an end to forced retirement from October 2011. Employers have been preparing for this change and many are realising the benefits it will have for both them and employees. ...More Information
Register for our benchmarking tool until 31st January – 12 January 2011
We can help you to demonstrate the progress you are making in Diversity and highlight evidence to show where Diversity is embedded in your Business.You can register for e-quality the EFA/EFB benchmarking tool, until 31st January. ...More Information
December 2010
New Year boost for Over 50s – 21 December 2010
Thousands of older workers across the UK are faced with the prospect of entering the New Year without any work. The cuts, though affecting all ages in employment are set to hit the over 50s the hardest. ...More Information
Forced Retirement on the rise as DRA ban nears – 15 December 2010
The number of older employees forced to retire has risen dramatically as concerns about the end of the default retirement age (DRA) grows among employers.Statistics from Age UK have shown that the number of older workers forced to retire had jumped to about 100,000 in 2009 from an average of 25,000 for 2008 and 2007. ...More Information
Longleat staff given forced retirement – 15 December 2010
Nearly thirty staff over the state pension age of 65 have been forcibly retired by the Longleat estate and safari park in the past fortnight, it has been reported.Managers at the tourist attraction have been accused of prejudice against older workers, as no staff under the age of 65 have lost their jobs. ...More Information
McDonald's launches foundation degree – 15 December 2010
McDonald's is unveiling a foundation degree for its restaurant managers, to complete what it says is a "learning ladder" for its employees at all levels.The two-year foundation degree - in ‘Managing Business Operations' - is accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University, and 53 managers will sit the inaugural course. ...More Information
Middle Aged Workers are being Overlooked – 13 December 2010
Two-thirds of the 350,000 jobs created this year have gone to the under-35s or people in their 50s or 60s, according to the CIPD. This leaves workers in the 35-49 age bracket - the largest age group in the workforce comprising almost 11 million people - missing out. ...More Information
GovNet event: Ageing Population Conference 10 May 2011 – 7 December 2010
Ageing Population 2011 offers the chance to hear from key policy makers, innovative practitioners and over 25 suppliers. As the UK's premier event for those involved with meeting the challenges and opportunities of an ageing society, this will be an opportunity to network with stakeholders and build partnerships for the future. ...More Information
Retirement process – is there a duty to consider “in good faith”? – 7 December 2010
Employers who follow the retirement process but invariably turn down employee requests to continue working may be at risk of having any subsequent dismissal declared unfair, if other tribunals follow the line recently taken in the case of Ayodele v Compass Group plc.Compass had a retirement policy providing for retirement at age 65, which stated that the company had a duty to consider any request to work beyond that age, but without providing any guidance as to how that consideration should be carried out. Mr Ayodele's contract of employment also provided for retirement at age 65. ...More Information
Government publishes Equality Strategy – 2 December 2010
The Government has today published its equality strategy, which can be downloaded here. The strategy states five principles: creating equal opportunities for alldevolving power to peopletransparencysupporting social actionembedding equalityThere are implications for employers in both the public and private sectors, with commitments in the following areas:To implement the public sector Equality Duty, with specific duties focused on transparency and devolved accountability;To work to develop a voluntary scheme for gender pay reporting in the private sector, particularly for businesses with 150 or more employees – mandatory reporting under section 78 of the Equality Act will be postponed until the success of the voluntary approach has been assessed (this might be regarded as another Liberal Democrat climb down given their specific manifesto committments);To permit employers, from April 2011, to apply positive action in recruitment and promotion processes;To work with business to develop measures to promote more women onto the boards of public companies, and continue to work to improve the representation of women on public boards but falling short of commiting to a quota at this stage;To extend the right to request flexible working to all employees;To consult on a new system of shared flexible parental leave;To phase out the Default Retirement Age, with a response to the recent consultation by the end of 2010;To reform Access to Work so that disabled people can apply for jobs with funding already secured;To review the regime for the management and disclosure of criminal records, and to scale back the vetting and barring scheme. ...More Information
November 2010
Retirement enforced for the over 65s at Longleat – 25 November 2010
The law currently allows employers to trigger the retirement of employees working on past the Default Retirement Age (DRA) of 65 where an indefinite extension has been granted where the normal retirement age is 65 or where the employer operates no normal retirement age, provided the statutory retirement process is followed. The planned removal of the DRA in 2011 will mean this is no longer possible and some employers have been reminded by their legal advisers that they may wish to review their stance vis-a-vis this group of employees if they are uncertain they will wish to retain them once the DRA changes come into effect. ...More Information
Four in Ten Workers to Put Off Retirement – 19 November 2010
Nearly half the UK workforce plan to continue working beyond 65 once the default retirement age (DRA) is abolished in October 2011, according to a new CIPD employee outlook survey.The Focus on Ageing workforce survey showed that 41% of the 2,000 staff questioned planned to work beyond the state retirement age of 65, while the proportion who said they planned not to was much lower at 29%. ...More Information
Another warning for serial claimants – 19 November 2010
Scammers seeking to make money by frightening recruiters into settling claims have been given another warning by the Employment Appeal Tribunal.Late last year the EAT ruled (in Keane v Investigo) that an applicant for a job who has no interest in accepting it if offered has no claim for discrimination if the application is unsuccessful.This time John Berry, who is thought to have taken legal action against more than 60 firms in three years over the ‘discriminatory' advertisements, which he says alienate older applicants, and whose exploits were reported by Metro earlier this year has failed to convince the EAT that tribunals were wrong to strike out or dismiss claims he lodged to try to pressure firms to settle with him. ...More Information
Cost As A Justification of Age Discrimination – 16 November 2010
In considering the basis on which employers can justify age discrimination it has been widely accepted that "cost alone" is not a sufficient reason.That view has now been challenged by the Employment Appeal Tribunal, which has upheld a tribunal decision that a redundancy dismissal timed to avoid costly early retirement rights being triggered at age 50, although unfair, did not amount to age discrimination as it was objectively justified. ...More Information
Many Workers Over 50 Stuck In Career Rut – 11 November 2010
The Change at any Age study looks at ways employers can invest in their workforce to avoid "career plateau" With the fixed retirement age being abolished in 2011, and the state pension age rising for both men and women to 66 in 2020, a new study from the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) and Cranfield School of Management reveals that there is considerable stagnation in the careers of many over 50s, and many employers are not currently doing enough to prevent this and the loss of skills and attitudinal problems that result.The Change at any Age report shows that on average respondents actually want to retire at age 61 despite being fully aware that they may have to work later than this. ...More Information