Week Starting 30th June

Second Consultation On Age Legislation Begins

Amidst a lot of media attention and some nine months late, the Government has begun the second round of consultation on its proposals for age discrimination legislation. The document ‘Equality & Diversity: Age Matters’ which was published on 2nd July is seeking views on a number of issues including : retirement age; recruitment, selection and promotion; pay and non-pay benefits; unfair dismissal; employment-related insurance and statutory redundancy payments.

You can access the consultation documents either via the Age Positive website (www.agepositive.gov.uk) or directly on the DTI’s website (www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/age.htm).

The first round of consultation generated responses from over 800 organisations and individuals. We would urge anyone interested in this issue to take part in this second round which ends on 20th October. TAEN will be putting in its own response in due course. Click here to read our Press Release.

The Government has decided to bring forward the implementation date of the legislation from December 2006 to 1st October 2006 – not quite the degree of speeding up we’ve been pushing for. .

Week Starting 23rd June

Disgruntled Job Seekers Vote With Their Wallets

New research from the internet recruiter ‘Totaljobs’ shows that companies pay a heavy price for treating jobseekers badly. According to the report those companies exhibiting a lack of professionalism and courtesy during the recruitment process could be losing out by an estimated £30,000 per disgruntled jobseeker.

Nearly 6 out of 10 jobseekers say they will not buy goods or services from firms who leave them in limbo after a job interview or who never wrote back to them or presumably tell them they’re too old for the job.

At the TAEN helpline we receive phone calls daily from older jobseekers who are frustrated and angry by the treatment they receive from many employment/recruitment agencies and employers. It is therefore hardly surprising to hear that for many this translates into a trade embargo against the firms in question. The problem for those firms is that the disgruntled jobseeker will share their opinions with family and friends, so there is likely to be a knock-on effect in terms of any boycott.

93% of Organisations facing Recruitment Difficulties

The latest Recruitment and Retention survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals that despite the economic downturn and a wave of redundancies, 93% of organisations have had difficulties recruiting suitable staff over the past year.

The survey, which was conducted with 557 organisations, shows the problem exists across all sectors and regions. According to the CIPD (a TAEN member) it confirms the trend of the ‘3Rs’ effect, where mass redundancy co-exists alongside recruitment and retention difficulties.

The three main causes of the problem are claimed to be :-

• lack of specialist skills
• poor quality applicants
• pay inflexibility

The public sector has been particularly effected – especially in London and the South East where the cost of living is also cited as a major reason.

At the same time as they are experiencing recruitment difficulties, 72% of the organisations are also experiencing problems retaining staff. This has jumped from 50% in the previous year. Here again the public sector is particularly badly hit with 84% of organisations reporting difficulties. The biggest problem is in retaining administrative staff.

The survey reports that these recruitment and retention problems have led to key changes in recruitment procedures and trends in the UK. These include recruiters being more prepared to train new recruits and to drop the level of experience required.

Faced with such difficulties it would be natural to think of turning to the over 50s and other excluded groups for an answer. It is therefore baffling that less than 1 in 5 employers are looking to the over 50s and only 1 in 3 are targeting Lone Parents to fill their vacancies..

Week Starting 16th June

TAEN’s ‘Challenging Age’ Roadshow Gets Underway

Having been funded last year by DfES to research the information, advice and guidance needs of older people, TAEN will this week hold the first of a series of roadshows to disseminate the results and encourage best practice. The research report ‘Challenging Age – Information, Advice and Guidance for Older Age Groups’ was published in April.

National Learning and Skills Council are sponsoring 3 roadshows - the first takes place in York on the 19th June. The events are focused at those professionally involved in either funding, providing or delivering I.A.G. services to older people. To accompany the programme TAEN has developed a set of resource materials based on the reports findings, which will assist providers and practitioners to assess and improve the quality of the adult career guidance services they offer.

The other venues are Bristol on the 2nd July and London on the 16th July. There are still a few places available at both events – contact us for further details.

New Minister For Pensions Finally Named

Whilst the Prime Minister’s reshuffle at the end of last week may have left much temporary confusion - at least it answered the question of who replaces Ian McCartney at the DWP. Malcolm Wicks has taken over the responsibility. We also have a new Minister of Work with Des Browne replacing Nick Brown. The changes came in the same week as Andrew Smith announced some of the Government’s proposals for occupational pensions (see Press Releases) to a far from rapturous reception.

TAEN believes the proposals represent a move in the right direction even though they only dealt with final salary pension schemes but questions the speed at which they are being introduced. For instance the reform to Inland Revenue rules needed to allow people to draw down a pension and a salary at the same time, from the same company, is unlikely to be implemented before the Budget in 2005. This measure is key in promoting flexibility and choice for older people and their employers, in terms of when and at what speed they can retire.

The Government is also saying that Spring 2005 is the earliest possible date for most of the reforms to occupational pensions laws. These reforms will introduce one set of regulations instead of the eight which currently apply. The proposals were widely supported by all sides of the pensions industry and had the support of both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Under those circumstances it should have been relatively straightforward to press ahead.

However, as with the age discrimination legislation itself, the Government makes many of the right noises but is proceeding at half speed.

Wanted : Age Discriminatory Job Adverts

Both the BBC’s Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme and the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) are trying to collect examples of job adverts which are deliberately ageist.

The EFA (a TAEN member) is launching what it calls a ‘national job ad amnesty’.
By collecting examples of job ads which specify ages or use of age-related language it aims to point out to recruiters that it is still too easy to find adverts which are both explicitly and implicitly ageist. Such adverts constitute age discrimination on the part of those placing them.

Sam Mercer (director of EFA) says “Simply removing an age range from an advert will not protect employers from future age discrimination laws. Ageist language may also be considered unlawful and going by the adverts we see today many recruiters are going to have serious problems in 3 years time.”
Both the BBC and EFA would like to receive examples from any of our News Page readers who have collected or come across adverts whose wording is such that they deliberately deter either younger or older people from applying.

Please forward them to the Today programme via their ‘contact us’ section on http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today and to the EFA via their own www.efa.org.uk website (links open in new browser windows). If you can, please copy us in on the information you send in.

Week Starting 9th June

Employment Figures : Good News / Bad News

This month’s labour market figures show the number of people in work and those claiming Job Seeker Allowance (JSA) have both risen.

The good news is the number of people in work has risen by 51,000 in the past 3 months and now stands at 27.87 million (74.6% of the working age population). The number of people in work has gone up by 242,000 in the past year. Many of these new jobs are part-time.

The bad news is that the number of people claiming JSA rose by 9,700 last month. This is the largest monthly increase for 10 years. The number of claimants now stands at 950,000. In the past 3 months the number of ILO unemployed* rose by 36,000 to just under 1.5 million but is down by 11,000 versus this time last year.

The number of vacancies is said to be the same as this time last year with10,000 new vacancies being placed at Jobcentres every working day. The Office of National Statistics say there is evidence that up to twice this number are notified through other recruitment channels.

A new survey of 3,100 UK businesses reveals that 35% of employers are looking to increase staff levels, 43% are looking to keep them level and only 15% are looking to lose staff. The TMP/ Hudson Global Resources survey found growing levels of confidence amongst businesses (the Baghdad
bounce ?) but nearly a third of firms are worried about finding suitably skilled staff.

Skill gaps are increasing. Over 20% of firms with skill shortages are looking for experienced salespeople, 18% are finding it hard to find technical and engineering staff and 12% are trying to find accountancy staff.

* ILO unemployed calculates those who are unemployed, have actively searched for work in the previous 4 weeks and would be ready to start a new job within 2 weeks.

DWP Publishes Response to ‘Pathways To Work’ Consultation

The Government has just published its response and action plan for Pathways to Work - the scheme designed to help people on Incapacity Benefit (IB) back into jobs.

Amongst other measures the scheme will provide a Return To Work Credit (RTWC) worth £40 a week. The credit will be payable for 52 weeks directly to any IB claimant accepting a full-time job which pays under £15,000 per year. The RTWC will be disregarded for Income Tax, National Insurance, Tax Credits, Housing and Council Tax Benefits and the income-related benefit of any partner.

The Pathways to Work (PTW) scheme will also provide early support from skilled personal advisers, access to a range of specialist programmes – including new rehabilitation services provided jointly by Jobcentre Plus and the NHS - and more support for people with health problems who move from incapacity benefit (IB) to Job Seekers Allowance.

Unlike New Deal 50+ (which also featured a RTWC worth £60 a week until earlier this year when it was turned into a Working Tax Credit), the PTW scheme does not appear to offer a Return To Work Training Grant. This is a curious omission, since the majority of those on IB will have been out of work longer and are therefore more likely to require training when they do return to work.

Whilst Andrew Smith (Secretary of State, DWP) has acknowledged that input from the 144 individuals and organisations who responded to the consultation “have provided us with a wealth of good ideas about the action needed to improve the job prospects of people with illness or disability”, the DWP did not take up our suggestion of a cadre of external stipendary ‘activity advisers’ who would provide ongoing support to clients and Jobcentre Plus advisers. However many of our comments and recommendations have been taken on board.

Of the approximate 2.8 million people in the UK on IB, over 1.3 million are aged 50+. Around 75% of those between 50 and state pension age on benefit are on incapacity benefit. The Government admits that many people who should be regarded as ‘unemployed’ have been parked on IB. Once claiming it, around 40% remain on it for a considerable amount of time as “their prospects for getting back to work are likely to be very poor”. (Pathways To Work – Helping People Into Employment : November 2002).

The Government has allocated nearly £100 million to the 7 PTW pilot programmes. Three will begin in October – Bridgeport, Rhondda,Cynon and Taff; Renfrewshire, Argyll, Inverclyde and Bute; and Derbyshire. Four others will start up in April 2004 –Somerset, East Lancashire, Essex, Gateshead and Tyneside. The pilots are all due to end in April 2006.

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Week Starting 2nd June

Thirty Five Year Olds Encountering Ageism

New research from TAEN member Maturity Works amongst 34–67 year olds found that nearly eight out of ten said they had been the victims of ageism. Workers in their mid thirties claim to have been discriminated against for being too old and the experience has left them feeling frustrated, anxious and depressed. 66% of the 150 workers aged 34–67 surveyed said they were unconfident when it came to getting a job, with nearly three quarters (71%) saying they were anxious about the future.

13% of the respondents say they experienced workplace ageism under the age of 40 and 61% had experienced it before they reached 50.

Some 53% of older employees see themselves as targets for redundancy and feel frustrated and resentful that their valuable skills are going to waste when they still have a lot to contribute to an employer.

According to the survey the stress faced by older workers from workplace ageism spills out into their private lives with a third of respondents saying their experiences were having a negative impact on their marriages and 62% their social life. Nine out of 10 say ageism has affected their wealth.

We know from earlier NHS statistics that depressive disorders are 50% higher amongst non-workers and rise with age and low qualifications.

Work-Life Balance Baton Passed On

This week the baton for campaigning on the issue of work-life balance has been passed to The Work Foundation from the Employers for Work-Life Balance (EfWLB).

Originally set up in 2000 by 22 employers, the EfLWB has successfully managed, along with the DTI, CBI and TUC to raise awareness of the issue - culminating in the new statutory right for parents with children under 6 or disabled children under 18 to be able to request flexible working arrangements from their employers. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of embedding the concepts and practice of greater flexibility and better work-life balance amongst UK employers.

The Work Foundation believes that greater flexibility and better work-life balance is not just for employees with young children but for all staff. Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State at the DTI, appears to agree but is fighting shy of committing the government to legislate further in this area for the time being.

The CBI estimates that days lost through work related stress are currently costing the UK nearly £12 bn a year. Whilst the CBI support the work-life balance campaign, Ruth Lea of the Institute of Directors recently lashed out in typical fashion on the subject. She accused those who are campaigning for improved work-life balance of ‘demonising’ employers and threatening the economic well-being and success of business and the country.

However, as Ruth Spellman, of Investors in People has pointed out, if working long hours was the answer to the issue of low productivity, the UK would be the most productive economy in Europe. We’re not, our productivity per head is one of the lowest in Europe despite the fact that 1 in 4 men are working over 48 hours a week.

Investors in People have launched a new Work-Life Balance Model which employers who want to move forward on this issue can use to “define what work-life balance looks like in their organisation and how to make it part of a workable strategy that gives them measurable effects (and benefits)”.

The new model will not become part of the ‘standard’ IiP accreditation but will sit alongside it. Patricia Hewitt has pledged that the DTI will seek accreditation to the new model.

For older workers the issue of work-life balance is often a critical one. For those in work many want the opportunity to have more flexible patterns of work and over time move towards less stressful and part-time arrangements. For those out of work, employers’ needs to cover more flexible working patterns can present job opportunities.