Age: Discrimination

(asked on 18th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce ageism in the workplace.


Answered by
Alok Sharma Portrait
Alok Sharma
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 30th April 2019

The Equality Act 2010, provides strong protection against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an employee or a job applicant because of their age, unless the employer can justify it as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Government has put in place a number of measures to support people of all ages to enter and remain in a workplace.

We have taken steps to support younger workers by introducing the Youth Obligation Support Programme, an intensive package of labour market support for 18-21 year-olds looking to get (back) into work. We are committed to providing targeted support for young people, so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work. In April 2019, Mentoring circles were rolled out nationally, which involve national employers offering specialised support to unemployed, young jobseekers to help build their confidence and raise their aspirations.

To support older workers to remain in or return to the labour market, the Government has removed the Default Retirement Age meaning most people can choose when to retire, and extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer.

In February 2017, the UK Government published “Fuller Working Lives: a partnership approach” to set out the role employers, individuals and Government can play in supporting fuller working lives. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/587654/fuller-working-lives-a-partnership-approach.pdf

The Government has also appointed the Business In The Community (BITC) Age at Work leadership team as Business Champion for Older Workers. The BITC team of employers spearhead the Government’s work to support employers to retain, retrain and recruit older workers. They actively promote the benefits of older workers to employers across England.

The number of older workers in employment is at a record high. There are now 10.4 million people aged 50 and over in the workforce.

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