The new Equality Bill will create a step change in opportunities in modern Britain. Ensuring diversity – both by protecting vulnerable groups where necessary and by building their capacity in the workplace – is essential if we are to cre  More...
03 July 2008 17:02

The government White Paper on the Equality Bill was published on 26 June 2008. And although it doesn't go as far as some employers had originally feared, the clear message is that the government is committed to working to achieve equality in the workpla  More...
02 July 2008 16:07

The Equality Bill promises the biggest shake up in discrimination law since the 1970s. Its provisions will have serious repercussions for employers, especially with regard to positive discrimination, openness on pay and the extension of age discrimi  More...
02 July 2008 15:59

Will the Equality Bill allow employers to effectively tackle the inequalities that still persist in many British workplaces? No. Let's be honest - positive action is discrimination. Whether it is justifiable or, indeed, necessary is a totally   More...
02 July 2008 15:55

More than 250 age discrimination claims could be revived in the wake of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) hearing on the challenge to the UK retirement age on 2 July. According to the Employment Tribunals Service, about 260 cases across England  More...
02 July 2008 00:01

Harriet Harman will unveil the first draft of the Equality Bill before Parliament today - potentially paving the way for positive discrimination in the workplace. Several reports claim the equalities minister's White Paper will force companies   More...
26 June 2008 11:21

The suggestion by a leading pensions expert that employers are faced with a stagnating workforce of older staff unprepared for retirement has been criticised by HR chiefs. At the launch of a report by Watson Wyatt last week, the firm's senior pensi  More...
23 June 2008 10:30

Employers who provide health insurance as a benefit to staff could face claims of age discrimination if they fail to find cover for older workers, a City law firm has warned. Reynolds Porter Chamberlain said it could be prohibitively expensive   More...
19 June 2008 08:02

Colleges and universities are failing to write race, gender and disability equality schemes and action plans as required by law, according to the sector's main union. The University and College Union (UCU) wants to see the Equality and Human Ri  More...
29 May 2008 09:55

Following a recent working visit to the Middle East where the demographic profile is much younger than that in the UK, I took myself for an unusual daytime shopping trip to the local supermarket. I joined a throng of septuagenarians and octogenarian  More...
29 May 2008 00:00

Earlier this year the Office for National Statistics released figures that showed 95,000 more people over the age of 50 were in work than in the last quarter of 2007. But what does this increase of older people in the workplace mean for employers?   More...
23 May 2008 17:59

The government has launched a taskforce to tackle the shortage of black and ethnic minority women councillors. The number of black and minority ethnic women councillors has marginally increased from 0.6% in 1997 to 0.9% in 2006. This equates to about  More...
19 May 2008 07:43

A major shake-up of discrimination laws is expected to be announced in Gordon Brown's draft Queen's Speech today. Brown will outline the long-awaited Single Equality Bill, on a list of measures to be introduced during the 2008/9 Parliamentary sess  More...
14 May 2008 09:10

Age discrimination laws have had one beneficial side effect - they allow us to explode the pensions timebomb myth. In 1798, Thomas Malthus predicted that the world's population would double and double and double until there was not a paving stone   More...
13 May 2008 10:00

The government wants a major rise in the number of apprenticeships on offer - and it's willing to subsidise their training through employers Prime minister Gordon Brown signalled his commitment to modern apprenticeships with an announcement to busin  More...
22 April 2008 10:00

There, in the TV studio the same morning as me recently, was Dame Carol Black, launching her report, Working for a Healthier Tomorrow , looking fit, as you would expect of a post-retirement age long-distance walker and runner. Black rightly argue  More...
09 April 2008 14:38

Wilkinson v Springwell Engineering Ltd Facts This is a case under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (EEAR) , which provide protection against discrimination on grounds of age. Regulation 3(1)(a) provides that A directly discrimi  More...
02 April 2008 10:45

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has finally published its single equality scheme  – three months late. All public authorities have a duty to produce an overarching equality scheme, setting out their position for staff on rac  More...
02 April 2008 09:59

A charity that campaigns to provide a "secure base for Britain's minority ethnic communities" has called for effective leadership to promote diversity, after a poll revealed that almost nine in 10 recent graduates have experienced some kind of discrimin  More...
01 April 2008 09:04

Age discrimination is still a major problem for UK organisations, according to the latest findings from the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), produced by Cranfield School of Management in association with Personnel Today . Research released today   More...
31 March 2008 10:00

After six months in the shadows, the Equality and Human Rights Commission is preparing a YouTube awareness campaign.  More...
28 March 2008 12:17

Youth may be wasted on the young, but do age regulations accept any substitute for experience?  More...
26 March 2008 10:52

A 70-year-old woman has won a case against her former local council employer, after she was released from her job as a fitness instructor for being too old. Celia Powis will be allowed to renew her contract to teach pop mobility - intensive work  More...
20 March 2008 12:40

The government has refused to rule out a change in the law to allow employers to discriminate in favour of black or female job applicants. Reports suggest that equalities minister Harriet Harman was preparing to announce moves to bring US-style posi  More...
20 March 2008 10:29

A 70-year-old woman will hear today whether her appeal against her former employer, a local council was successful, after she was released from her job as a fitness instructor for being too old. Celia Powis, decided to appeal against a decision take  More...
18 March 2008 11:20

That Carol Black is a damned fine woman. I know I was the one who was less than complementary about her performance a while ago but now I'm hers, hook line and sinker. In fact, I have a very soft spot for her. She has hidden talents and attributes   More...
07 March 2008 08:00

A 60-year-old helicopter pilot is taking the aviation regulator to court because it will not issue him with a solo flying license due to his age. Ian Evans, a self-employed helicopter pilot, was forced to retire on his 60th birthday when the Civil A  More...
05 March 2008 11:47

Employers are ignoring the IT skills and knowledge of young people who have recently entered the workforce, claims a survey. It found that although 82% of school leavers and 84% of graduates felt confident about their IT skills, only 51% of them were  More...
04 March 2008 16:00

A 19-year-old administrative assistant sacked for being "too young" won an age discrimination case last week. Leanne Wilkinson claimed she had been unfairly dismissed from her job at Springwell Engineering in Newcastle, having been told she was too y  More...
04 March 2008 14:00

When the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) received the top-line results from some research we commissioned in advance of our conference in February, we were a little disappointed. At first glance it suggested that - please try to control your shock - age di  More...
03 March 2008 10:00

Human resources professionals should champion an end to forced retirement for business as well as legal reasons, the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) has insisted. A poll by insurance firm AXA last week revealed that one in five retirees experienced pre  More...
18 February 2008 14:30

From our 50s onwards, our thoughts tend to turn towards a wisteria-bedecked cottage, but today, with more than a million British people working beyond the state pension age, and each day bringing a fresh pension scandal, we can put those dreams on hold.  More...
18 February 2008 10:00

Almost a fifth of young workers have been made to feel self-conscious about their age while at work or going about their daily life, research has revealed. A study of 981 adults by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) found age was the top issue of conce  More...
14 February 2008 10:12

A new service has been launched to help local authorities boost their levels of diversity awareness. The government's Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) is to provide peer reviews to help councils meet level three of the Equality Standard  More...
14 February 2008 10:10

Age discrimination is still "rife" in the UK workplace, as employees are being pressured into early retirement, new research as found. A survey conducted by insurance giant Axa found that three out of five people stopped work before the legal ret  More...
13 February 2008 11:56

A former bar manager has been awarded almost £15,000 compensation for age discrimination and unfair dismissal. The Carslisle Employment Tribunal found that Ronald Davidson was unlawfully sacked three weeks after his 60th birthday. Davidson   More...
13 February 2008 09:10

Employers will need to tighten up discrimination and flexible working policies following a landmark disability decision, which is almost certain to give rise to new rights for millions of workers, legal experts have warned. An advocate-general at the  More...
04 February 2008 08:01

Age discrimination law is in disarray in the wake of a landmark employment tribunal case, legal experts have warned. A tribunal ruled that Kent-based law firm Clarkson Wright and Jakes (CWJ) did not discriminate against Leslie Seldon, a former   More...
25 January 2008 15:47

Minority groups lose out on training in workplaces that have won the Investors in People (IIP) training award, new research suggests. A study of almost 15,000 people by Nottingham University Business School found that women, ethnic minorities, temps,  More...
24 January 2008 09:23

We have just had a quote for renewing our medical insurance policy. We have several workers aged over 65 and if we cover them too, the overall cost increases substantially. Can we exclude these workers from the insurance? First, a practical point -  More...
21 January 2008 14:03

Rachel Krys has been appointed director of the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), replacing the long-serving Sam Mercer. Mercer has moved on to take up a new role at membership organisation Business in the Community after seven years leading the campaign  More...
18 January 2008 08:02

NHS occupational health practitioners do not adequately understand the health needs of older workers, with the result that OH support for this increasingly important section of the workforce is both patchy and inconsistent. Research by OH nurse prac  More...
17 January 2008 08:00

Age discrimination is quickly becoming the most common form of discrimination, despite new laws being implemented less than a year ago to prevent it, new research has found. A survey of just under 2,000 people, commissioned by business inf  More...
07 January 2008 08:00

Employers that fail to make payments into new personal pension accounts could be hit by fines of up to £50,000. The Pensions Bill received its first reading in Parliament last week, and proposes automatic enrolment into a qualifying workplace schem  More...
10 December 2007 10:40

The president of the Employment Tribunals, HHJ Meeran, has handed down a 'practice direction' staying all current and future tribunal claims which concern the UK's mandatory retirement age. The judgement on the legality of the UK's mandatory   More...
03 December 2007 12:01

The investment in training for older people is of "paramount importance," the National Skills Forum has said on the eve of the anniversary of Lord Leitch's Review of Skills. The forum, a body that brings together parliamentarians, key stakehol  More...
30 November 2007 15:28

EXCLUSIVE Commercial occupational health nurses make up almost a third of active OH nurses practising in the UK, but ever-rising demand and an ageing workforce, with most OH nurses now aged over 40, is putting OH across the board under increasing p  More...
26 November 2007 08:00

Johns v Solent SD Limited , Employment Appeal Tribunal Background The default retirement age exemption in the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 allows employers to retire employees at 65, as long as a retirement process is followed.   More...
26 November 2007 08:00

Equal pay crisis should not be tackled at local level There is no doubt that equal pay issues facing local government are at crisis point ( 'Schools cash raid to fund equal pay' , Personnel Today , 6 November). Many local authorities have to div  More...
20 November 2007 07:44

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations were widely predicted to cause mayhem in the UK's workplaces. Yet in the years since their introduction on 1 October 2006, no more than a trickle of cases has reached tribunal. Numerous research studies also  More...
20 November 2007 00:00

Your weekly legal dilemma on the subject of ageism (Personnel Today, 13 November) made me put fingers to keyboard. A human resources (HR) manager said Sir Menzies Campbell was too old to run the party. While that may be a bad thing, is it r  More...
19 November 2007 14:57

The CBI has ignored legal opinion in the wake of a critical tribunal judgment, to tell employers: don't change your retirement policy. Lawyers last week warned that the ruling meant employers could face a mountain of discrimination claims from worke  More...
19 November 2007 10:49

A surge in age discrimination claims from workers forced to retire at 65 has become more likely after an appeal tribunal decision. The Employment Appeal Tribunal reversed a ruling that prevented a woman keeping such a claim on file until the result o  More...
13 November 2007 15:00

A 20-year-old woman sacked for being "too young" won a landmark age discrimination case yesterday (Monday). Megan Thomas, who worked as a membership secretary at the Eight Members Club , central London, said she had been unfairly dismissed by manage  More...
13 November 2007 10:00

I'm a human resources director and, to my horror, our HR manager reportedly said about  Sir Menzies Campbell's recent resignation that "he was too old to run the party, let alone the country". I am obviously concerned about her comments and a  More...
12 November 2007 10:30

Few would deny that, despite major reforms, more needs to be done to help tackle workplace discrimination. Trevor Phillips , in his first major speech as chair of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), has called for the government   More...
05 November 2007 08:00

Older workers have suffered a blow as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favour of national ­mandatory retirement ages. In Felix Palacios v Cortefiel Servicios SA , Felix Palacios de la Villa challenged Spanish legislation that perm  More...
29 October 2007 08:00

Lawyers representing Heyday have insisted that its case against the UK's mandatory retirement age has been helped rather than hindered by the failure of a similar claim in Europe. The European Court of Justice seemed to have sounded the death knell for   More...
23 October 2007 08:38

Companies who hire staff using only online application forms could be found guilty of age discrimination as they are excluding certain age groups unable to access the internet, a law firm has warned. Many companies now use standardised web-bas  More...
22 October 2007 10:34

In this week’s podcast we take a look at some of the stories making the headlines in Personnel Today, including what HR professionals would banish to Room 101 and the outcome of an important European case on age discrimination. We also give you  More...
19 October 2007 14:06

Peter Bloxham, former head of insolvency at law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, has lost his £4.5m age discrimination claim. Bloxham accused Freshfields of age discrimination on the ground that changes to its pension scheme affected partners d  More...
11 October 2007 12:10

Ambitious, positive and tech-savvy are not words that the human resources press is used to attaching to older workers, but according to a recent study of 1,000 people aged over 50 this is exactly what they are. Research from the Department for Work  More...
08 October 2007 15:50

A year after age discrimination was outlawed in the workplace , one in five job advertisements still fails to comply with the rules, according to law firm DWF. In a survey of 200 ads, DWF found 21% were potentially ageist, while 27% could be vie  More...
03 October 2007 11:05

The government has been urged to abolish fixed retirement ages for civil servants. Public sector union FDA revealed research showing that more than one in four of its members wanted the right to work beyond the age of 65. Almost half of FDA-affilia  More...
02 October 2007 13:45

The financial cost to employers of unfair practices, and the extent of the ethnic, disabled and gender pay gaps were brought to the fore last week after a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference held by equality advisory organisation Committed  More...
01 October 2007 15:12

What is age discrimination? Ageism is defined as any prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of age. In other words, age discrimination in employment is when someone’s age is used as the basis for employment decisions, for example not recruiting   More...
01 October 2007 14:58

The trade union representing staff at the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which comes into being today (1 October), has warned the body could be undermined by a lack of cash. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has ex  More...
01 October 2007 11:45

The number of age discrimination claims in the UK could "explode" as the new laws enter their second year, the head of the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) has warned. A year on from the introduction of the legislation, Sam Mercer, chief executive  More...
01 October 2007 10:40

The amount of ageism in the workplace has barely decreased in the 12 months since it became unlawful, according to research. A survey by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) found that 59% of workers believe they have witnessed ageist behaviour in the  More...
28 September 2007 16:05

Despite the fuss about extra burdens that the Age Discrimination Regulations were feared to place on business, the regulations have not proved a problem as a quick look at the number of claims (just reported) shows - 972 were submitted in the six month  More...
24 September 2007 12:31

Despite being launched in a flurry of publicity, last year's anti-ageism laws still seem to be causing difficulties for UK employers. The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 became law last October, and despite a wealth of guidance for busi  More...
12 September 2007 00:00

The government will face calls this week to extend anti-age discrimination law to include the provision of goods, facilities and services. As the consultation period for the government's Discrimination Law Review (DLR) comes to an end, a survey by  More...
03 September 2007 15:01

Law firm Wedlake Bell has warned those firms who take on young people over the summer may face anomalies in age discrimination legislation if they pay them more than the national minimum wage. Wedlake Bell said employers were entitled to pay wo  More...
23 August 2007 10:49

It's all very well the government saying it wants employers to promise (that is what a pledge is, after all) to bring all their staff up to level two equivalent, as outlined in the Leitch Review of Skills . But that aim takes no account of the changes t  More...
21 August 2007 00:00

Thames Valley Police have recruited the services of two 16-year-olds to work as community support officers (PCSOs), saying: "If you are good enough, you are old enough." The teenagers will undergo training for the role, having passed all the assessme  More...
13 August 2007 17:07

HR news including: final salary and defined benefit pension schemes set to make a comeback; and the Argos employee sacked for his comments on Facebook. Louisa Peacock, Greg Pitcher and Gareth Vorster discuss the latest news in human resources.   More...
10 August 2007 17:50

The examples of BBC presenter Nick Ross leaving his Crimewatch post amid claims of age discrimin-ation - and that of BBC newsreader Moira Stewart leaving hers - serve as stark reminders about workplace attitudes towards their older workers. Wh  More...
24 July 2007 08:00

Lawyers representing Heyday  will this week ask the president of the Employment Tribunal Service to allow retired people to lodge age discrimination claims pending a European judgment. The move comes after the Southampton employment tribun  More...
23 July 2007 00:00

City law firm Freshfields has been hit by two age discrimination claims from former partners. The company is currently fighting an employment tribunal claim brough by Peter Bloxham , its former head of insolvency. The judgment on the claim has b  More...
19 July 2007 13:59

A woman claiming unlawful age discrimination because she was forced to retire at 65 has been denied the right to have her case kept on file until the outcome of the Heyday legal challenge . The Southampton e mployment tribunal struck ou  More...
17 July 2007 12:33

Age discrimination laws were introduced last October amid huge publicity and a raft of guidance to help employers understand and embrace the rules. Despite this, the Department of Trade and Industry reports that around 600 age claims h  More...
17 July 2007 11:39

Allowing people to work beyond the age of 65 lifts a weight off employers’ shoulders and forces line managers to do a better job, a report has claimed. The End of the Line for Retirement Ages found that employers who chose to operate without a   More...
13 July 2007 12:00

A flood of age discrimination claims could leave UK employers facing a £12m compensation bill, government figures have revealed. Statistics from the now-defunct Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) showed about 600 claims had been registered since   More...
10 July 2007 08:00

UK employers have been warned to prepare for an ageing workforce after research revealed more than three-quarters of employees anticipated working beyond the age of 65. An estimated one million people are currently working beyond the state pension   More...
26 June 2007 09:53

The government has published a consultation on the Discrimination Law Review , which aims to modernise discrimination legislation. It includes proposals for a Single Equality Bill that would will put the law on equality and discrimination   More...
12 June 2007 12:40

Ageism may have been outlawed, but other groups have yet to gain from legislative protection.  More...
11 June 2007 00:00

Employers have been warned against complacency over the legal challenge to the mandatory retirement age, after the expected date for a verdict slipped towards 2009. Solicitors acting for Heyday , the Age Concern  group behind the challen  More...
05 June 2007 09:00

Eight months after the legislation was introduced, age discrimination claims are picking up in momentum and reaching the headlines. The Observer recently reported that Buckingham Palace may have fallen foul of the age discrimination legislation by   More...
05 June 2007 00:00

The older the worker, the more likely they are to feel responsible for their own training and development. According to a National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace) survey of employee attitudes to training and development (T&D), 28% of   More...
04 June 2007 09:59

Author: Malcolm Sargeant Price: £65 Publisher: Gower Publishing Pages: 233 ISBN: 0566087745 Buy this book at Amazon This well-written book comes at a time when the new UK law on age discrimination is causing confusion for many employers. The a  More...
29 May 2007 00:00

The Co-operative  Group  has been officially recognised for its work in removing ageism from its businesses. The company has been awarded 'Employer Champion' status by the government's Age Positive  initiative, which promotes age equality in th  More...
16 May 2007 08:00

Keeping diversity issues within the context of your business is the key to implementing a successful equality strategy, the Learning and Skills Council has found. The education and training body gathered valuable feedback from minority groups i  More...
10 May 2007 12:50

As a public sector organisation, we are in the process of writing our gender equality scheme. We have identified several areas of the workforce where women are highly under-represented. The Gender Equality Duty code of practice advises employers that   More...
01 May 2007 11:24

I have to comment on the ad placed in Personnel Today by Red Letter Days (3 April). Obviously champions of work-life balance, Red Letter Days has its finger on the pulse when it comes to issues of diversity, gender equality and ageism - or so yo  More...
24 April 2007 16:06

Cornish hospital trust settles out of court and reinstates worker as age discrimination laws appear to apply to cases before introduction of legislation.  More...
24 April 2007 00:00

The Employers Forum on Age (EFA)  has warned employers that the decision of a hospital to reinstate a worker sacked a day before the age regulations came into force must not be misinterpreted. The forum was repsonding to union claims that a female w  More...
12 April 2007 14:37

More than one in 10 people claim to have suffered age discrimination at work since it was made unlawful in the UK six months ago, according to research. Two-thirds of the 1,000 workers surveyed by the Employers Forum on Age  said nothing had changed  More...
10 April 2007 09:45

Small businesses are risking tribunals as they fail to make changes to employment policies following age discrimination laws, research has suggested. A survey of 750 small businesses by conciliation service Acas revealed that only 17% have in  More...
02 April 2007 10:00

The upcoming Equality Act has thrown public sector employers into a spin over pay and conditions. What are they doing to tackle the issue? Ross Bentley finds out.  More...
27 March 2007 00:00

The national minimum wage ( NMW ) band for younger workers constitutes age discrimination and must be brought into line with the adult rate, the Employers Forum on Age ( EFA ) has warned. Last week, the government announced a 3.2% increase   More...
13 March 2007 00:14

A new approach is needed to tackle discrimination and disadvantage in the UK, the final Equalities Review report has recommended.   The inquiry that produced the report, led by Trevor Phillips , chairman of the Commission   More...
28 February 2007 13:30

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the TUC have launched a guide to help employers understand age discrimination laws. The guide, Developing a new mindset on age and retirement , includes advice about   More...
27 February 2007 12:08

The legal challenge to the UK government’s mandatory retirement age received a major blow today when the advocate-general delivered his opinion on a similar Spanish case. The advocate-general at the European Court of Justice stated t  More...
15 February 2007 15:00

The University of Surrey's recent study, which revealed that HR professionals are guilty of age discrimination when it comes to training and development, is a real worry for UK businesses. ( Personnel Today , 16 January). With an increasing number   More...
13 February 2007 00:00

The government’s national minimum wage (NMW) is “ridiculous” and flouts age discrimination laws, according to one employment lawyer. Carolyn Soakell, an associate at Lewis Silkin law firm, said she had no idea how the government could justify the  More...
09 February 2007 08:01

A European legal decision on the government's mandatory retirement age has been hit by "frustrating" delays, the campaign group behind the challenge has revealed. Heyday - a spin-off of charity Age Concern - claims the Department of Trade and Industr  More...
07 February 2007 08:27

Four months on, are employers managing to comply with the new age discrimination laws?  More...
30 January 2007 00:00

The Heyday ageism case firmly put the spotlight on the way the age regulations have been implemented in the UK. But what is the potential impact of the case for employers? Q What is the background to the Heyday case? A The Employment Equali  More...
23 January 2007 00:00

Author: Simon Cheetham Price: £35 Publisher: Jordans Pages: 244 ISBN: 1846610265 Buy this book at Amazon Simon Cheetham is a respected barrister and occasional lecturer on employment law issues, and Esther White, a partner at law fi  More...
23 January 2007 00:00

HR professionals are guilty of age discrimination towards older workers when it comes to training and development, in-depth research has revealed. The study, by the University of Surrey and the British Psychological Society, found that HR managers r  More...
16 January 2007 07:35

Author: John Sprack Price: £28 Publisher: Tottel Publishing Pages: 301 ISBN: 1845923073 Buy this book from Amazon Disappointingly, half of this book is made up of a copy of the regulations together with a copy of the Acas guide for empl  More...
09 January 2007 00:00

The UK’s oldest worker is celebrating his 104th birthday on Christmas Eve. Jim Webber, a retired farmer, has spent the last 20 years working at the New Inn pub in Stoke Abbot, Dorset, as a gardener. Webber, a great grandfather, said people’s atti  More...
22 December 2006 10:33

William Wastie and Jane Amphlett explain how partners will be affected by the new age regulations, and what companies need to do now. Discrimination legislation and its effect on partnerships, limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships   More...
13 December 2006 16:16

Sarah-Marie Williams clears up some common misconceptions about age legislation and retirement. Q. The age regulations provide for a default retirement age of 65. Does this mean that employees will automatically retire at this age? A. No. Emp  More...
13 December 2006 00:00

All workers forced to retire since 1 October this year have been urged to lodge age discrimination claims after a High Court ruling last week. A senior judge ruled the challenge to the government's mandatory retirement age, brought by baby-boomers'   More...
12 December 2006 08:00

From positive discrimination to HR's image problem, Mike Berry takes a look back at some of the important news stories that made the headlines in Personnel Today during the past 12 months.   More...
12 December 2006 00:00

In 2006, Personnel Today produced a host of useful feature articles – all available online at PersonnelToday.com. Here is a selection of links listed by subject.  More...
12 December 2006 00:00

Diversity tsar Trevor Phillips' bid for positive discrimination to be legalised has been dismissed by businesses. Phillips, head of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights , last week insisted "special measures" were needed to ensure dive  More...
08 December 2006 09:03

The High Court has referred a legal challenge to the mandatory retirement age to the European Court of Justice. Heyday , the membership organisation for older people that brought the action, welcomed the decision. The group argues that fo  More...
06 December 2006 14:42

The group behind Wednesday's (6 December) legal challenge to the mandatory retirement age is confident of success, insisting it has "a very strong case". All eyes will be on the High Court when Heyday , a membership organisation affiliated to the Ag  More...
05 December 2006 07:46

The cost of complying with the pension aspects of the age discrimination laws, which come into force today (1 December), could be as high as £1m per company. Research, by law firm Eversheds, reveals that half of businesses are anticipating a signifi  More...
01 December 2006 11:00

The decision by recruitment agency Robert Walters to ban so-called 'age-related' words from its ads ( Personnel Today , 31 October 2006) is a typical knee-jerk over-reaction to new legislation. How do terms such as 'quick learner' and 'vibrant' hav  More...
28 November 2006 00:00

Secretary of state for communities and local government Ruth Kelly has told new Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) chairman Kay Hampton that she will be crucial to the body's legacy. Hampton replaces Trevor Phillips as chairman of the CRE on 1 De  More...
23 November 2006 11:01

The latest quarterly Recruitment Confidence Index has found that buy-in from the board is the most important factor in eliminating age discrimination from the workplace, but is the board up to it?  More...
22 November 2006 08:48

When the government minister responsible for the age discrimination laws admits that ageism is endemic in society and it's going to take a long time to change, you know it's going to be an uphill struggle. Employment relations minister Jim Fitzpatr  More...
21 November 2006 00:00

I agree with the recruitment agencies that have slammed the ban on words that could risk breaching age discrimination laws ( Personnel Today , 24 October). Rather than working towards breaking down age discrimination, banning the use of words such a  More...
07 November 2006 00:00

Levels of workplace discrimination in the UK are low by global standards, a major survey has found. The UK is ranked 25th on the list of 28 countries worldwide, and 14th among the 16 European countries in the survey. In Europe, the highest rates of   More...
01 November 2006 10:34

New redundancy arrangements have been introduced for NHS employees to comply with the age discrimination laws. Anyone made redundant from 1 October this year will receive a package that no longer depends on how old they are. The previous NHS red  More...
31 October 2006 09:39

Scientist baroness Susan Greenfield has challenged the UK's politicians to admit that working longer is good for you. Greenfield told delegates, at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's annual conference in Harrogat  More...
26 October 2006 10:40

Recruitment agencies have slammed the decision by competitor Robert Walters to ban any potentially discriminatory age-related words in its job ads. 'Dynamic', 'ambitious' and 'hungry' are just some of the words vetoed by Robert Walters last week in  More...
25 October 2006 08:00

Employers will next week start to get an idea of how employees intend to use, or abuse, the new age discrimination laws . Statutory procedures demand 28 days breathing space before employees can lodge their grievance with an employment tribuna  More...
24 October 2006 08:00

Forty per cent of UK jobseekers believe they have been discriminated against when applying for work in the last five years, international research has found. The Kelly Global Workforce Index sought the views of about 70,000 people in 28 countries,   More...
23 October 2006 14:06

Employers could be forced to reduce pension benefits or set up a costly trust because of the shake-up of age discrimination rules, consultancy Mercer  warned. With the consultation  period on the Department for Work and Pensions proposals for pensi  More...
19 October 2006 14:35

Hertfordshire County Council has scrapped its staff retirement age following the introduction of age discrimination laws this month. Its policy had stipulated a retirement age of 65, although employees could request consideration to cont  More...
18 October 2006 13:52

Dynamic, ambitious and hungry are among the many words that have been banned from use by a UK recruitment agency, which fears they may stray across the line under the  age discrimination laws  that came into effect on 1 October.   More...
16 October 2006 12:09

A shake-up of the age discrimination regulations has kicked off with a consultation paper proposing changes to occupational pension rules. It is less than three weeks after the age discrimination rules came into force and the Department for Wor  More...
12 October 2006 13:23

Employers have started banning communal birthday cards because of the risk of distributing discriminatory ageist  comments . Businesses are worried that teasing taunts, such as being “over the hill,” could generate claims under the age discrimina  More...
12 October 2006 12:23

Many employers risk falling foul of the anti-age discrimination law because they have not altered their recruitment advertisements in light of the new regulations. An analysis by Personnel Today of the appointments sections of two leading Sunday n  More...
11 October 2006 08:00

A High Court challenge to the mandatory retirement age of 65 means there could be trouble ahead for the government. After months of consultation and wranglings at the highest levels, the new age laws have already been labelled as incompatible with t  More...
10 October 2006 08:05

The government has defended its age discrimination regulations after the High Court said it would consider a judicial review of the legislation in December. Lord Hunt of Kings Heath called for support for the  regulations , introduced on Sunday, in   More...
03 October 2006 14:11

The government faces a judicial review in early December that will challenge its decision to permit mandatory retirement ages under new age discrimination legislation . Heyday, a membership organisation backed by charity Age Concern, has been  More...
03 October 2006 09:46

Just three days into the era of age discrimination legislation, Personnel Today can reveal that age-based pay inequality is rife across HR. The latest research from salary survey specialist CELRE shows that HR professionals' pay is clearly linke  More...
03 October 2006 08:19

Acas  has warned employers not to ignore the rights of younger workers as the Age Discrimination Regulations come into force. The regulations ban age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion, training, provision of be  More...
02 October 2006 09:03

CBI, the employers' lobby group, has called on employment tribunals to take a common-sense approach to applying the age regulations, which come into force on 1 October. Employers fear that the new regulations, which ban discrimination on groun  More...
29 September 2006 14:00

The age discrimination laws could seriously endanger the national minimum wage system, a business group has warned. The British Chamber of Commerce said that employers could be challenged under the new age legislation, which comes in   More...
29 September 2006 10:20

Time has now run out. With minor exceptions, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 come into force from 1 October, and employers should already have age-proofed their HR policies. But according to research by Personnel Today's sister publ  More...
26 September 2006 08:00

The pension provisions have been delayed to allow employers more time to make the necessary changes to schemes.  More...
26 September 2006 08:00

David Bradley, global head of HR legal services, DLA Piper This year's TUC conference again called for legislation to legitimise 'supportive' strike action - otherwise known as secondary action - which is currently unlawful. Here are some of the  More...
26 September 2006 08:00

Sam Mercer's warning that awareness  of the new age legislation is still worryingly low should come as no surprise to employers. But I suppose the real question they should ask themselves is: does it really matter? Mercer herself admits that the  More...
26 September 2006 08:00

HR directors are much more likely to be prejudiced against older workers than the general public, according to new research. A poll of 200 HR directors found that two-thirds believed that people should retire at 65 years old, despite the new age di  More...
25 September 2006 14:30

Half of UK employees (50%) are unaware that age discrimination will become illegal on the 1 October, research has revealed. More than four in 10 (41%) of the 1,000 workers surveyed by the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) said they had worked somewhere w  More...
25 September 2006 08:33

In your news story 'TUC report claims one million over-50s are jobless through employers' ageist attitudes' (PersonnelToday.com, 14 August), I strongly disagree with Susan Anderson's statement that the over-50s lack the necessary skills in liter  More...
19 September 2006 00:00

More than four out of five people (85%) think that age discrimination should be illegal, according to a survey from Age Concern.   The legislation - coming into effect in two weeks - will offer protection to under 65s in work and training, as w  More...
18 September 2006 08:00

Most employers think their staff understand the age discrimination legislation that comes into force in October, but more than half say they haven't a clue. Old Age Thinking / New Age Thinking, published by recruitment firm Manpower , reveals that