Out-Law News 3 min. read

Report: age discrimination 'serious problem' in UK workplaces


Employers, the government and human rights bodies must do more to tackle discrimination and bias against older workers, according to new report.

Too many workplaces are operating on an "outdated, inflexible model", which is preventing them from getting the best out of the growing proportion of the UK workforce aged over 50, according to MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee. It has put forward a number of recommendations to improve enforcement of age discrimination law, along with employer transparency and accountability.

"As a country, we face serious challenges recruiting and retaining an experienced and skilled workforce," said committee chair Maria Miller. "Until we tackle discrimination against the growing number of over 50s, they will continue to be consigned to the 'too old' pile, instead of being part of the solution."

"The business case for an age-diverse workforce is clear. Despite this, employers continue to organise workplaces around an outdated, inflexible model that this inquiry and our past inquiries into fathers in the workplace and the gender pay gap show no longer works. It's time for a mandatory approach, with flexible working being the default from the time jobs are advertised onwards," she said.

Half of all UK adults will be over 50 years of age by the mid-2030s according to government research, while the number of over 50s either working or available to work will grow by around one million by 2025. At the same time, declining UK birth rates and an anticipated reduction in inward migration following the UK's exit from the EU will reduce the number of younger workers.

The government has committed to adapting to meet the needs of an ageing society and ageing workforce as part of its Industrial Strategy, while its Fuller Working Lives report of February 2017 set out the actions that it would take to support older workers. However, these strategies are "not well coordinated" and "lack any plan to ensure that existing legislation is being implemented and enforced", according to the report.

The committee has recommended that the government work with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to develop "specific commitments" on enforcing the law around age discrimination. The EHRC should also develop a "clear plan" on tackling age discrimination in employment, with particular focuses on age discrimination in recruitment and age discrimination in the public sector.

Recruitment agencies should also work on removing age discrimination from the recruitment process, and should collect data on the age profiles of job seekers and those actually finding work in order to identify where older workers are being excluded, according to the report. The committee has also recommended a new reporting requirement on workplace age profiles for public sector employers and other employers with over 250 staff, similar to the gender pay gap reporting requirements.

The committee has strengthened its recommendations on flexible working from previous inquiries, recommending that the government "legislate now to ensure that all new jobs are advertised as flexible from day one, unless the employer can demonstrate an immediate and continuing business case against doing so". Civil service and public sector employers should adopt flexible working on the same basis for both new and existing roles. The committee has also recommended the introduction of a statutory right to paid and unpaid leave for those caring for older relatives, similar to rights to leave that exist for parents.

Employment law expert Emma Malczewski of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, noted the parallels between the committee's recommendations and the government's response to the debate around gender pay.

"Current headlines tend to be dominated by the gender pay gap and worker status issues," she said. "However, this report makes clear that the socio-economic business case for an 'age-diverse workforce' is becoming more important than ever given the changing shape of the population; and needs to be prioritised by the government, the EHRC and all employers."

"Accountability by way of reporting has been effective in relation to starting and developing the conversation about gender pay, so should have the same effect in relation to age as another protected characteristic under the 2010 Equality Act. Flexible working is also a key driver of many companies' work in relation to the gender pay gap, and this report endorses its role in helping to address inequality in the workplace in relation to age as well," she said.

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