Employers are to be primed next year for the new anti-ageism legislation with
a government advertising and awareness raising campaign, the Trade and Industry
Secretary has announced.
Speaking at the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) Age Conference, Patricia Hewitt said that a nationwide campaign would be launched next year in the style of the work-life balance campaign to make employers aware of their responsibilities: "I can announce today that next year we will be launching a nationwide campaign, working with businesses to help gear up for the introduction of the new age discrimination legislation. Building on best practice. Preparing for the new laws.
" Legislation sometimes gets the loud minority ranting about political
correctness, positive discrimination and employing people who are not up to
the job. It’s not about any of this. It’s about the right people
in the right jobs," she said.
Four in ten discrimination cases are age-related while one in two people have
either suffered, or seen someone else suffer, age discrimination at work. Today,
Hewitt said that employers must stop this "appalling waste of talent":
" Despite us living longer and healthier, the problem is getting worse.
There’s no reason why we should be thrown on the scrapheap at a certain
age…Just yesterday, a British scientist set to turn 70 on Thursday, Sir
Peter Mansfield, jointly won the Nobel Prize for his work on magnetic resonance
imaging.
"Age discrimination costs us £16 billion a year in lost GDP and a
further £3-5 billion in extra benefits and lost taxes," she said.
Hewitt, 54, also pointed out that ageism was not just an ‘older issue’:
"Younger people are sullied with a perception that they’re inexperienced,
unreliable, irresponsible, more likely to throw ‘sickies’ and lacking organisational
skills,’ she said.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said today that they did not have
any further details on the campaign but that it would "promote best practice,
include advertising of some form and engage with HR and employers."
[source: http://www.hrgateway.co.uk]