‘More than a million over 50s talents are wasted’ says the October 2018 report (pdf) from the Women and Equalities Committee on older people and employment.
The report concludes that the Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) were failing to enforce the law on age discrimination and must be clearer that prejudice, unconscious bias and casual ageism in the workplace are all unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.
The Committee recommends:
- The EHRC develop a clear plan to tackle age discrimination in employment. This plan should include: action to tackle discrimination in recruitment and the recruitment industry, an agreement with the Equality Advisory Support Service to identify and refer claims of age discrimination in employment as a priority for legal support by the Commission.
- The EHRC should submit to us a clear plan of action including specific timeframes to investigate, intervene and enforce the law which prohibits discrimination based on age.
- The Government introduce mandatory regulations to require all public-sector employers, and private and voluntary sector employers with more than 250 staff, to publish the age profile of their workforce.
- The Government seek to 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.
