Championing Older Workers - The Business Case

1. Championing Older Workers - The Business Case

2. EQUALS ONE Flexible working/Job Share recruitment Consultancy Winners of Working Families Innovation Award 34% of candidates over 45 and experiencing discrimination ENCORE Support for over 45s Age Diversity consultancy Fair Play for Older Workers project Winners of national Age Positive Recruitment Excellence Award EQUALS ONE & ENCORERECRUITMENT

3. OBJECTIVES • Identify external factors which are leading employers to be ‘age positive’ • Outline the key points of the Age Regulations • Outline the key benefits of Age Diversity and employing older workers • Identify barriers to employing older workers • Outline key policies & procedures which need to be reviewed to become an age diverse employer

4. BACKGROUND • One third of people in the UK aged 50>SPA (2.8 million) do not work • Of this 2.8 million, nearly half are on sickness and disability benefits and one in ten are looking for work • This costs the economy c£16 billion a year • It costs £3-£5 billion in benefit payments and lost taxes • By 2020 this age group will rise by 3 million (with the under 50s dropping by a similar figure) • 1 in 5 people have experienced discrimination at work with biggest cause (38%) being age related and of these majority experienced during recruitment process (38%)

5. WHAT EXTERNAL FACTORS ARE LEADING TO EMPLOYERS PROMOTING AGE DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE?

6. EXTERNAL FACTORS

7. EXTERNAL FACTORS Demographics • 40% of UK workforce over 45 by 2010 • The birth rate is dropping and people are living longer = ageing population • Pensions crisis! • 48% wish to work beyond retirement age with flexible working being a key driver

8. EXTERNAL FACTORS Recruitment Market • Increasing staff turnover rates • Increasing competition for talent • Potential labour pools diminishing due to high employment rates We cannot afford to restrict our recruitment pools by stereotyping Age discrimination in recruitment harms business!

9. AGE LEGISLATIONWhat do you know about the legislation?

10. Age Legislation 2006 • Due to come into force 1 October 2006 • Covers people of ALL ages, both young and old • Regulations cover employment and vocational training. This includes: • Access to help and guidance • Recruitment • Promotion • Development • Termination • Perks and Benefits

11. WHO DO THE REGULATIONS APPLY TO? • All workers and to people applying to work • Training providers including further and higher education • Self employed people • Contract workers • Office holders • Members of trade organisations • Police Officers

12. Age Legislation 2006 • Goods, facilities and services are not included • Upper age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy will be removed • National default retirement age of 65 to be reviewed in 2011 • All employees will have ‘right to request’ to work beyond retirement • Occupational pensions are covered but regulations generally allow schemes to work as they do now

13. QUESTIONS ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

14. What are the business benefits of championing older workers and age diversity?

15. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR AGE DIVERSITY – BUSINESS BENEFITS • Access to wider talent pool • Build reputation as ethical and intelligent employer and become ‘employer of choice’ in an increasingly competitive labour market • Reduce costs • Lower staff turnover • Lowering recruitment and training costs • Increasing return on investment • Retaining corporate knowledge • Improved productivity • Increase profitability • Identifying new markets and getting closer to customers • Benefit from multi-skilled and motivated workforce

16. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR AGE DIVERSITY – DTI - Financial Impact assessment following implementation of Age Regulations • Up to 51,000 additional employees in workforce • Increase in GDP of up to £2 billion • Estimated benefit of up to £36m per year due to lower staff turnover • Estimated improvement in recruitment costs of up to £85m due to increased opportunity to fill vacancies satisfactorily • Age neutral promotion - productivity boost up to £180m due to talent and abilities being allocated more efficiently • Better training resulting in improved motivation and productivity – up to £55m

17. CASE STUDIES • Corporate call centres seeking skilled candidates with strong customer service skills • Corporate call centres seeking to reduce staff attrition rates • SME business owners looking to recruit office support for first time • Corporate processing centres looking for administrators • Companies looking for sales executives • SMEs looking for senior level personnel on part time basis • Retail sector looking for candidates who match profile of their customer base

18. CANDIDATE PROFILE-SECTOR

19. Barriers to employment If older workers are so valued why do many still find it difficult to secure employment?

20. BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT

21. RECRUITMENT PROCESSBARRIERS Lack of confidence • Constructing CVs • Application form completion • Interviews Attitudes??

22. Age StereotypingWhat are the positive and negative stereotypes?

23. Age Stereotyping

24. QUESTIONS ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

25. How can we improve our age diversity? What areas do we need to review?

26. KEY AREAS

27. COMPANY CULTURE, POLICIES AND COMMUNICATION • Statement of vision from the top • Internal communications/training should reflect this vision • Carry out an age audit. What is the age profile of your company? Do you need to take any positive action? • Carry our surveys amongst customers and employees. What is the perception of your company in relation to age diversity? • Do all your policies reflect your vision? What is the purpose of a policy and is it age biased in any way? • Ensure you have an Equality & Diversity policy which includes age and that this is visibly supported from the top and communicated to all employees.

28. RECRUITMENT What areas do we need to review?

29. RECRUITMENT • Base your decisions about recruitment on the skills required to do the job • Review your job and person specifications • Review application forms • Review screening procedures • Review interview and selection procedures • Review Graduate programmes • Consult with your recruitment suppliers

30. RETIREMENT & REDUNDANCY What areas do we need to review?

31. RETIREMENT & REDUNDANCY • Do you have a fixed retirement age? • If so - and it is under 65 - you will need to review • Formal procedures need to be implemented to ensure retirement is not treated as unfair dismissal • Employees have right to request working beyond retirement age. • Do you offer flexible working options to all employees? • Do you use age related criteria in redundancy selection (e.g. LIFO)?

32. PAY & BENEFITS What areas do we need to review?

33. PAY & BENEFITS • Are any staff benefits based on age related criteria (e.g length of service)? • Any benefits based on length of service over 5 years needs to be reviewed or justified in relation to the Age Regulations • National Minimum Wage

34. TRAINING & PROMOTION What areas do we need to review?

35. TRAINING & PROMOTION • Opportunities for promotion and training should be available to everyone on an equal and fair basis • Are references free of age bias for internal applications? • Are all employees trained on ‘age discrimination awareness’? • Do performance appraisal systems work fairly and without bias?

36. AN AGE DIVERSE EMPLOYER WILL: • Recruit, promote and train solely on ability and potential • Not use age as a factor in employment decisions • Challenge ageist stereotypes • Identify new markets and get closer to its customers

37. QUESTIONS ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

38. OBJECTIVES • Identify external factors which are leading employers to be ‘age positive’ • Outline the key points of the Age Regulations • Outline the key benefits of Age Diversity and employing older workers • Identify barriers to employing older workers • Outline key policies & procedures which need to be reviewed to become an age diverse employer