Age discrimination should finally end at the stroke of midnight on September 30, 2011, as the default retirement age is consigned to history.

Abolishing the default retirement age takes away the right of an employer to sack a worker who has reached the age of 65 years old.

Although the move is more to do with pension reforms than equality laws, the result is welcomed by consumer groups like AgeUK, who campaign for the rights of the over 50s.

Many groups claim employers are prejudiced against older workers and manipulated the default retirement age to sack them.

Reticence to employ older workers is reflected in the latest unemployment statistics.

They show that those aged 50 and over who have been out of work for two years or more has exceeded 100,000 for the first time  – almost double the number just two years ago.

Age UK’s director of charity, Michelle Mitchell said: “The end of the default retirement age is a  victory for older workers who for too long have been consigned to the scrapheap for no reason other than prejudice.

“There is still a long way to go before older workers are treated as equals in  the  workplace. We have seen a  very small  improvement over the last five years but, as the statistics show, not nearly enough. We hope that, by taking away the arbitrary “best before” date for employers, attitudes towards older workers will quickly evolve to look at their skills and experience, not their date of birth.

“With an ageing population traditional rigid ideas about retirement are changing.. Many people will want to work longer for personal or financial reasons and prejudice should  not  lock them out of the workplace.”

AgeUK wants the government to push home the message that employers should give jobs to older workers with a campaign highlighting the benefits of experience.

“Particularly worrying is the increase in the number of older people who have been out of work for two years or more,” said Mitchell.

“Older workers must be given improved access to training and back to work support to maximise their skills and appeal to employers.  Otherwise, employers have an excuse to overlook a significant sector of the population when it comes to staffing.”

This article is filed under retirement age abolished 65 years: , Legal, Leadership, Minorities, Equality Act 2010, equality strands, Protected charactersitcs, Role models

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