A report by the Women and Equalities Select Committee on discrimination against older workers has found that too little is being done to enforce the law.
The MPs on the Committee singled out the government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), arguing that they had failed to enforce the law on age discrimination and failed to make clear that prejudice, unconscious bias and casual ageism in the workplace were all unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.
As a result of their combined failure, the report found that “the nation is wasting the talents of more than one million people aged over 50 who are out of work but would be willing to work if the right opportunity arose”. It says that discrimination, that was made unlawful more than 10 years ago, is the root cause of this problem.
Although the Committee accepted that the government’s employer-led approach had its advantages, it argued that it did not present a strong enough challenge to discriminatory practices or attitudes.
As a result, it has called on the government to work with the EHRC to agree a range of enforcement actions across both the public and private sectors. Specifically, it suggested that recruitment agencies should accept greater responsibility for collecting data on where older workers are being excluded and for developing a plan of action to remove discrimination from the recruitment process. The government should also ensure greater transparency in terms of reporting the age profile of their workforce by employers.
In terms of practical changes, the Committee has asked the government to introduce a statutory entitlement to five days’ paid carer’s leave, and a longer period of unpaid leave.
Finally, it recommended that the EHRC works 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; and that it looks into whether the public sector is complying with its duty to have due regard to the need to eliminate age discrimination under the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Jo Seery of Thompsons Solicitors commented: “The Committee rightly recognises the contribution older workers bring to the workforce. For too long older workers, especially older women workers, have been subject to discrimination in the workplace be it in relation to pay, promotion or training. We welcome the recommendations to tackle discrimination by making it a mandatory requirement to offer flexible working from day one and to introduce a statutory entitlement to 5 days paid carers leave. Good employers should provide these now without waiting for legislation to be introduced.”
Visit the parliament to read the report in full and read the news story in full.