New
Regulations will ban age discrimination in recruitment, promotion,
training and the provision of benefits from October 2006. Companies
wanting to set a retirement age of anything less than 65 will need
to justify it objectively, and today's upper age limit for unfair
dismissal and redundancy rights will be abolished.
The results of the CIPD survey, undertaken together with the
Chartered Management Institute among 2682 managers and personnel
professionals, show that age discrimination persists in many
organisations. Six in ten respondents (59%) reported that they have
been personally disadvantaged at work because of their age and
nearly a quarter of those surveyed (22%) admitted that age has an
impact on their own recruitment decisions.
The research also revealed that almost half (48%) of those
surveyed had suffered age discrimination through job applications
while 39% believe their chances of promotion have been hindered by
age discrimination.
This claim is backed up by individual perceptions of age where
over half (63%) of respondents believed that workers between the
ages of 30–39 years old had the best promotion prospects, with only
2% citing 50 year-olds or above.
A majority, (80%) reported that they are hanging on to the
expectation that they will personally retire by the age of 65,
despite believing that the age of retirement for the average person
in 10 years' time will be 66 or older. However, a third (29%) of
organisations already have no mandatory retirement age. This
suggests that both individuals and organisations need to consider a
step-change in how they perceive age and careers so that changes in
demographics are met with a more flexible approach to career
planning.
Dianah Worman, Diversity Adviser at the CIPD said, "Our research
shows that most managers expect everyone to be retiring later
within 10 years – except themselves. There is a growing acceptance
that the average worker is going to stay at work beyond 65. But
no-one seems to think it applies to them."
She added that individuals "need take a reality check on their
expectations of their own retirement age."
The evidence also suggests that current proposal to set a
default retirement age of 65 is "a useless bureaucratic barrier,
which needs to be either finessed or scrapped," says Worman. "If
the objective of the legislation is to end age discrimination in
the workplace and support older workers, this is likely to be
counterproductive."
She urged the Government to focus its attention on extending
flexible working arrangements, "to ensure that employers are able
to make greater use of the skills and experience offered by older
workers."
