Notes to Editors:
Small businesses in the dark about Age Laws
- Ms Sam Mercer, director of the EFA, and David Frost, DG of the BCC are available for interview.
- Together, the EFA and BCC carried-out a representative survey of 250 employers and had half hour one-to-one interviews with another 37 employers.
- The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 are being introduced to comply with the EU Employment Directive (Article 13). The new legislation will carry the same weight as earlier legislation on gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, and religion and belief. Age regulations will come into force on 1st October 2006.
- The legislation will require employers to change policy and practice in recruitment, selection, training, redundancy, retirement and the provision of pensions and other benefits. The EFA is able to comment on all aspects of the regulations.
- The EFA estimates that age discrimination costs the UK economy £31 billion each year.
- The Employers Forum on Age (EFA) is the leading campaigner on age issues in the workplace. It has more than 240 member organisations that collectively employ over three million people - more than 14 per cent of the workforce - in the UK and offers expert advice to employers on managing the skills and age-mix of their organisations. Core members include B&Q, Barclays, BT, Cabinet Office, Centrica, Co-operative Group, CIPD, DWP, GlaxoSmithKline, HBOS, HSBC Bank, JD Wetherspoon, Leeds Metropolitan University, Manpower, Marks & Spencer, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Royal Mail, Sainsbury's, Shell and Transport for London. Employers can join the EFA by calling: 0845 456 2495 or visiting www.efa.org.uk.
3 July 2006
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