Kevin Rowan

Jul 18 2005 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal

Job segregation happens in many occupations and affects many groups within the labour market.

The TUC published research earlier this year which showed quite clearly that concentrating women in some occupations and grades was costing business and the economy millions in under-used talent, experience and know-how.

The same is true for black minority ethnic workers and workers with a disability, but there is a group rarely associated with suffering from discrimination at work - older workers.

Last week the Government launched a new set of regulations which will "outlaw age discrimination at work". In our ageing region these measures should be welcomed as a key incentive to making the most of our older workers.

The new measures form the final stage of implementing the European Employment Directive, with the regulations due to come into force on October 1, 2006.

The draft regulations will ban age discrimination in terms of recruitment, promotion and training; ban all mandatory retirement ages below 65 except where objectively justified and remove the current upper age limit for unfair dismissal and redundancy rights.

They will also introduce a duty for employers to consider an employee's request to continue working beyond retirement and a requirement for employers to give written notification to employees at least six months in advance of their intended retirement date.

These new protections are clearly welcome. People are living longer and are healthier for longer, and for those who wish to work beyond their normal retirement age the new regulations are positive support for them to do that.

Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State in the DTI, was careful in his comments at the launch to stress that this wasn't "... about forcing people to work longer, it is about freedom to choose", he said, and I am sure those comments will be welcomed by trades unions in negotiations with the Government over reform of various public sector pension schemes.

However, many workers will choose to work beyond the normal retirement date because it is a choice between that and living in poverty as a pensioner.

In order to really provide choice to people approaching retirement, the Government needs to respond with conviction to the current state of affairs regarding pensions.