MPs demand action on workplace bias

The government has failed to stop employers from discriminating against over-50s in the workplace, MPs said yesterday. A select committee report on ageism called on ministers to redouble efforts to persuade companies of the benefits of hiring older workers.

The government has failed to stop employers from discriminating against over-50s in the workplace, MPs said yesterday. A select committee report on ageism called on ministers to redouble efforts to persuade companies of the benefits of hiring older workers.

Members of the Employment Select Committee called for barriers that stop the over-50s from re-entering the job market to be removed.

They welcomed a European directive agreed by all EU states last year that requires the Government to pass legislation outlawing ageism and other forms of workplace discrimination by 2006. But they warned that the increasing number of over-50s in society made reform urgent.

The MPs said the Government's voluntary code of conduct designed to stamp out ageism had failed to convince employers of the economic benefits of taking on older staff. The report said: "The Government's presentation of the business case ... has not been convincing enough to stimulate change ... In view of the tight labour market conditions and severe skill shortages in some sectors, the Government has a unique opportunity to advance more powerfully the business case in favour of age diversity."

The MPs called for more research into ageism, but warned that a far smaller proportion of those aged between 50 and 65 were in work, compared with younger groups of people in the job market. The over-50s were more likely to be in part-time work, had lower average earnings and were more likely to be among the long-term unemployed than their younger counterparts, the committee found.

They acknowledged that a range of factors, such as education, could contribute to high unemployment rates and lower earnings among the over-50s. But they insisted that age discrimination did exist. "Both older and younger people can be disadvantaged in the labour market," they said.