Age Discrimination Legislation Research Articles

Career development and older people

This article explores career development support offered to, and used by, older people since 2000. The context includes changes in age discrimination legislation and state pension entitlement, which intertwine in their effect on labour market participation. Career development services have changed, with a marked divergence between the fragmented delivery in England and the all-age services elsewhere in the UK. Initiatives have been piloted, judged successful, but not robustly pursued. The article argues that rhetoric outruns resources and delivery, and contemplates the additional complication of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on older people and the economy.

Should Age Discrimination Be an Integral Part of Employment Discrimination Law?

Abstract This Article argues that a universal approach to age discrimination promotes justice (including intergenerational justice) and efficiency. As explained herein, legal regimes regulate age discrimination in employment in various ways. While some regimes create specific anti–age discrimination legislation, others ban most kinds of employment discrimination, including age discrimination, in a general way. These latter promote a universal approach to age discrimination. The current Article explores the theoretical justifications for either a particularistic or a universal approach to age discrimination. Additionally, it enriches its theoretical discussion by taking and presenting a snapshot of current litigation in Israel – a country that has adopted a universal approach to age discrimination.

The demand for older workers and age discrimination: International experience and Russian realities

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the demand for older workers and age discrimination in the Russian labor market. The recent pension reform has brought widespread attention to these issues. Macroeconomic analysis showed that, despite the growth in the retirement age population and the increase in their presence in the labor market over the past decade, the demand for older workers has still been limited. One of the reasons for this situation is the relatively high age discrimination both in society and in the Russian labor market. Given this circumstance, raising retirement age should be accompanied by demandside efforts such as improving age discrimination legislation and age-friendly employment policy. The analysis of extensive international experience allows us to develop recommendations that will help smooth out negative effects of raising retirement age for certain categories of workers.

Age discrimination in the workplace: The more things change ….

Age discrimination in the workplace: The more things change ….

Tackling Age Discrimination against Older Workers:A Comparative Analysis of Laws in the UnitedKingdom and Finland

The European Union is experiencing a period of dramatic demographic change. As individuals live longer, and the proportion of ‘prime age’ workers decreases, governments are increasingly seeking to extend working life, particularly by encouraging older workers to remain in employment for longer. This has encouraged a greater focus on reducing age discrimination in employment to enable older workers who wish to continue to work to do so, including through the introduction of age discrimination legislation at the EU and domestic level. However, despite the presence of a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation at the EU level, there are still significant differences across national provisions. This paper considers how age discrimination laws affecting employment differ between EU Member States, focusing particularly on the United Kingdom and Finland.

Extending working lives: age management in SMEs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a study of age management in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data collection and exploratory research with six SMEs comprising of: initial interviews with representatives from the SMEs; action research activities designed to raise awareness of age management issues and age discrimination legislation; and follow‐up interviews to ascertain if awareness raising activities resulted in any changes, or planned changes, in policy, practice and attitudes towards older workers.FindingsGood practice in age management can be found in SMEs, but was not found to be part of a systematic strategy. Negative practices and attitudes towards older workers are observed, with positive and negative age stereotypes coexisting. Negative stereotypes displayed can undermine the perceived economic value of older workers. There may be a gap between policy and practice, but awareness raising campaigns that reach employers can influence existing ways of working by showing the benefits of an age diverse workforce and helping reduce prejudices against older workers.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size is small and context specific. However, the study usefully illustrates different approaches to age management policies and practices in SMEs, and the potential benefits of age management awareness in influencing attitudes and practices towards older workers in SMEs.Originality/valueThe experience of age management in SMEs is under researched and examples of good practice in age management are often drawn from large organisations. The paper highlights that SMEs often lack the resources to seek advice regarding age management; therefore, those responsible for age management awareness raising activities may need to approach businesses directly.

Age Discrimination Legislation in the United States and the United Kingdom

Age Discrimination Legislation in the United States and the United Kingdom

Working past 65 in the UK and the USA: segregation into ‘Lopaq’ occupations?

A prominent business case for employing older people in the 2000s suggests diverse employment opportunities existed for Britons over 65, despite their limited employment rights. However, it is hypothesized that employees over 65 were disproportionately segregated into less desired ‘Lopaq’ occupations: these were low paid, required few qualifications and were often part-time. The UK is contrasted with the USA, a country with long-established age discrimination legislation; the Labour Force Survey and Current Population Survey are analysed. A greater UK concentration in Lopaq occupations suggests employers, working in a context of limited employee rights, selectively retained and recruited people in their 60s to these jobs. An alternative explanation, that Lopaq employment levels reflected the characteristics of those choosing to work, is unsupported by logistic regression analysis. US evidence suggests that the 2011 default retirement age abolition will weaken UK Lopaq occupational segregation after 65 more than voluntaristic commitments to ‘age-diversity’.

Labour Law and the ‘Public Interest’: Discrimination and beyond

This article considers the intersection between labour law and the ‘public interest’ at EU level. It focuses particularly on the recent age discrimination cases in which the right to age discrimination has been balanced with the public interest (in employment policy). The article seeks to address a number of issues. Firstly, it considers the meaning of ‘public interest’ in relation to labour law, and why this notion has only traditionally been evident in very restricted fields (particularly collective bargaining). Secondly, the article considers the derogations on ‘public interest’ grounds in relation to age discrimination legislation. On this point, the relationship between formal equality (in employment directives) and constitutional equality (in relation to the general principle of non-discrimination) in the EU is discussed. Finally, the article discusses the balance struck between formal and constitutional equality in recent age discrimination cases heard in the ECJ. It considers particularly the effect on this balance of the margin of appreciation afforded to member states in the regulation of economic and social affairs.

Helping the Poorest Help Themselves? Encouraging Employment Past 65 in England and the USA

AbstractIn the context of population ageing and low retirement incomes, the UK government is encouraging delayed retirement. However, the OECD has argued that UK means-tested benefits disincentivise employment for the poorest, and Vickerstaff (2006b) has suggested managers have typically controlled opportunities to work beyond 65. In the US, contrastingly, benefits are meagre and difficult to access, and age discrimination legislation protects individuals from forced retirement. Would a US ‘self-reliance’ policy approach increase employment amongst the poorest over 65s in the UK and enhance or diminish their financial position? The evidence suggests that extending UK age discrimination legislation and restricting benefits would increase overall employment past 65, although not necessarily to US levels. Analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the US Health and Retirement Study finds the poorest over 65s were more likely to work in the USA than in England in 2002. However, within the USA, employment amongst the poorest was still low, especially compared with wealthier groups; logistic regression analysis primarily attributes this to lower levels of health and education. A US policy approach would therefore most likely damage the financial position of the poorest in the UK, as increased employment would not sufficiently compensate for lost benefits.

International Comparison of Age Discrimination Laws.

European age discrimination legislation is discussed in the context of the US Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and related state laws. US law was originally introduced to protect productive older workers from age stereotypes, but more recently preventing age discrimination has become important as a means of keeping costs down on entitlement programs as the population ages. Changes in enforcement, penalties, exemptions, length of time to file, and burden of proof have changed the effects of the laws over time. The ADEA has had both positive effects on currently employed older workers and negative effects on the hiring of older workers. Enforcement and publicity are offered as possible explanations for the strength of these positive and negative effects. Age discrimination legislation in Europe, indicated in the Framework Directive 2000/78, is driven by economic and political considerations. European legislation calls for less enforcement and more exemptions than the corresponding US cases which could lead to smaller effects on employment. However, pensions, disability, unemployment, and social security potentially have a stronger effect on social norms for retirement age than does anti-discrimination legislation.

Age Discrimination in Turbulent Times

Concerns about the ramifications of a rapidly ageing population have generally focused on the post-retirement period, with limited scholarly attention to the experience of ageism in the workplace. Despite a shift in policy against early retirement, ‘older workers’ — who may be as young as 40 — are disproportionately experiencing age discrimination, often resulting in joblessness. We argue that in a postmodern environment, where the culture of ‘youthism’ predominates, the workplace is undergoing significant changes. In the new knowledge economy, characterised by technological know-how, flexibility and choice, traditional values such as maturity, experience and loyalty have become passé. Drawing on Australian complaints and reported decisions of age discrimination in the workplace in the context of the international literature, we demonstrate the variety of forms ageism is taking. We argue that age discrimination legislation reflects an outdated modernist paradigm that fails to address the experience of older workers. In addition, as part of the culture of youthism, work is now being gauged by its capacity to create an aesthetic of pleasure.

Organizational reactions to UK age discrimination legislation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use neo‐institutional theory to examine organizational responses to the age discrimination at work legislation, recently introduced in the UK. The paper examines reasons managers advanced for the introduction of human resource (HR) policies about age discrimination, in addition to legal compliance.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal survey of HR managers and four case studies within a range of UK organizations are used to elicit data on organizational responses.FindingsUnsurprisingly, the introduction of the new legislation has created strong coercive pressure on organizations. However, the results also provide evidence of mimetic and normative pressures within organizations. There is a complex range of factors that influence changes to policies and practices. In addition, the impact of organizational context, manager stereotypes and public and private sector differences are examined. The implications for explaining coercive change in organizations in terms of different legal philosophies and for future research are discussed.Originality/valueThis paper adds to a currently sparse literature on the introduction of age discrimination policies by organizations and uses a neo‐institutional framework to examine the forces that may affect the introduction of these policies over and above legislation.

What are the implications of the new UK age discrimination legislation for research and practice?

Forthcoming changing demographics and the introduction of the relatively recent UK age discrimination legislation make it timely to consider some of the debates around the relevance of age to work. Issues surrounding ageing have been considered from within a number of disciplines and research perspectives which have led to some questioning of the dominant economic model that pivots on chronological age as a convenient, bureaucratic, measure that proxies for ability. The role of the HR practitioner in being able to redefine expectations throughout the lifespan of employees is considered while constraints to managing for the longer term are acknowledged. It is proposed that although the legislation will affect some age‐related practices positively, there are likely to be unintended consequences that single out particular age groups as special cases and therefore make age more relevant to the work relationship.

Age Discrimination Legislation in the U.K.: A Comparative and Gerontological Analysis

The three fold purpose of this study is to (1) review the incipient age discrimination legislation in the U.K., (2) offer comparisons with the U.S., Australia, and Canada and (3) examine the new legislation in relation to relevant gerontological theory and research. Reviewed are Britain's Employment Equality Age Regulations, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of the U.S., the Age Discrimination Act of 2004 in Australia, and Canadian Human Rights Act of 1985. A comparison of the new legislation on age discrimination in the U.K. with existing legislation of this type in the U.S., Canada, and Australia reveals that the British law appears to be weaker on many facets relative to those in the other countries. By permitting more exceptions to the law than are allowed under other types of civil rights statutes, restricting applicability of the law to the workplace, and maintaining compulsory retirement, the power of the law may be circumscribed. Gerontological theory and research do not, by and large, support these choices comprising the new British law.

Commentary on Eley R, Hegney D, Buikstra E, Fallon T, Plank A & Parker V (2007) Aged care nursing in Queensland – the nurses’ view. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16, 860–872

Commentary on Eley R, Hegney D, Buikstra E, Fallon T, Plank A &amp; Parker V (2007) Aged care nursing in Queensland – the nurses’ view. <i>Journal of Clinical Nursing</i>, 16, 860–872

Demographic Change and Consequences for Businesses

Businesses continually face critical challenges: global economic crisis of 1929, oil crises of 1973 and 1979/80 and bursting of dot-com bubble in early 2000 are all examples of historical significance. What these external influences have in common that they were, to a greater or lesser extent, unforeseen and therefore difficult to manage. Moreover, they had a short- to midterm influence on global economy and certainly changed way of understanding and conducting business nowadays. This change directly corresponds to purpose of this master's thesis, which in great part results from an increasing need to rethink different aspects of human capital. Nevertheless, there are great discrepancies concerning predictability and chronological impact of demographic change. According to Thomas A. Stewart who published in Harvard Business Review, the necessary information had been baked into demographic pie long before, and is almost always visible for years before it hits (Stewart 2004: 10) Realising this particular issue it seems that there are mainly two possible reasons why most businesses, although aware of significance, do not factor demographic change into their decision-making process. Firstly, companies within their foresight might not consider demographic change capable of severe impact within next years. Secondly, addressing this subject matter may provoke tension, rejection, or even insurgency from senior employees. The latter issue a rather heated subject in America, as employers are also often afraid to discuss retirement plans for fear of lawsuits under age-discrimination legislation (The Economist 2006: 67). Whether it not yet perceptible or simply unpleasant and difficult to address, organisations will have to face both an aging workforce and consequently also a labour shortage within next decade. Hence, visualising these two interconnected aspects in all their facets of great importance for economic survival and, even more evidentiary, for a comparative advantage. Over past years, different publications clarified that many older employees will have to stay in workforce because they simply cannot be replaced due to a lack of qualified, or even existing, young workers. Moreover, future leaders are likely to face not simply a labour shortage, but a knowledge shortage, as organisations bleed technical, scientific, and managerial know-how at unprecedented rates (DeLong 2004: 18). It therefore of utmost importance that businesses start emphasising special retention strategies for retaining older employees such as constant provision of good training as well as motivation and energy. The aim of this master's thesis comprises of evaluation and comparison of different strategies to cope with demographic challenges. In this regard, literature with a specific focus on an ageing workforce has been examined thoroughly. Furthermore, three diverse companies situated in Austria, Germany, and Scotland were investigated in order to ascertain current organisational approaches towards a changing workforce. Finally, recommendations from literature and organisational measures and plans were compared and contrasted in order to pinpoint discrepancies between two. Findings will show that literature and organisational measures relating to demographic changes are equivalent in large part. Those topics that do not occur in literature but in conducted interviews and vice versa, those issues occurring in literature but not in conducted interviews represent further findings of this thesis. Ultimately, combination of aggregated literature and topics only occurring in interviews provide a clear spectrum of promising measures that will lead organisations to overcome impacts of demographic change in future.

Young workers and the National Minimum Wage

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the basis of the Low Pay Commission's (LPC) presumption of the “distinctiveness” of young workers aged 16 and 17 in the absence of any systematic and objective basis for determining “fair pay”. In the context of labour market theories and the issues they raise in relation to skill, training and pay, the paper questions the presumption that young workers are distinctive with reference to contemporary notions of skill and training requirements.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sub‐sample of hospitality businesses in North Wales, the paper presents selected evidence from semi‐structured interviews about firms’ pay and employment practices that included a systematic method to enable managers to provide some objectively justifiable measures of job content and perceptions of personal attributes in relation to the pay of 16‐ and 17‐year‐old workers compared with their older counterparts.FindingsEmployers’ informal and pragmatic employment and pay practices both reflect and reinforce the LPC's presumption of distinctiveness for a predominantly student labour force. This indicative and exploratory method of quantifying jobs and personal attributes in relation to pay appears to have some validity, although the sorts of skills that are associated with young workers’ jobs may not be fully recognised or valued, reinforcing inequality and discrimination in some cases.Originality/valueIn raising awareness of potential inequality of treatment and discrimination in the context of age discrimination legislation, the paper will be of interest to researchers in employment relations, human resource management, equality and diversity management, minimum wages and the hospitality industry.

Exploring the UK hospitality industry and age discrimination

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the steps the hospitality sector is taking to ensure compliance with the age discrimination legislation introduced in October 2006.Design/methodology/approachA survey of the five sub sectors of the hospitality industry, hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs, contract catering and hospitality services, was conducted during April 2006.FindingsIt was found that ageism was considered a problem by respondents from hospitality services, largely public sector organisations, and the greatest impact from the legislation was considered to be within these firms. Overall, 45 per cent of respondents reported knowing “little” or “nothing” about the incoming legislation and the overwhelming majority felt they did not know enough.Research limitations/implicationsOut of the postal survey of 950 organisations there were 112 respondents, representing a response rate of just below 12 per cent. Perhaps the most prominent issue with surveys of this type are the concerns of employers about compliance and being caught out or, in this case, it may highlight a greater level of apathy or lack of awareness than the following results show.Practical implicationsThe findings show the need to target the message about the age discrimination legislation particularly to the pub, club and hotel sector.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the desire for knowledge about the legislation across the sector and the lack of awareness of sources of information.

Policy and practices relating to the active engagement of older people in the community: a comparison of Sweden and Australia

This article compares policy and practices for engaging older people in community life in Sweden and Australia. Barriers and support for active engagement through paid work, social activism, volunteering and aged services are compared. Both countries face issues of ageing populations, services for rural areas and people with small needs. Issues for Sweden were the absence of age discrimination legislation, availability of funds and lack of recognition of the growing levels of volunteering. Issues for Australia concerned the new managerialist approach to services, with associated complexities of access and limited social activism.