Million of over-50s hard to seek job in Britain due to age discrimination

LONDON - Talents of more than a million people aged over 50 in Britain who want to work are being wasted because of discrimination, bias and outdated employment practices, a report by politicians revealed Tuesday.

The report, by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, accused the government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) of failing to enforce the law on age discrimination.

Maria Miller, chair of the committee, said: "Age discrimination in the workplace is a serious problem, as many older people have discovered."

Miller said despite it being unlawful for more than 10 years, the scale and lack of enforcement uncovered by her committee's inquiry is both alarming and totally unacceptable.

Strategies such as Fuller Working Lives and the Industrial Strategy are not coordinated and lack any plan to ensure that existing legislation, the study showed.

According to Miller, the business case for an age-diverse workforce is clear, saying "Despite this, employers continue to organize workplaces around an outdated, inflexible model that this inquiry and our past inquiries into fathers in the workplace and the gender pay gap show no longer works. It's time for a mandatory approach, with flexible working being the default from the time jobs are advertised onwards."

The lawmakers on the committee called in their report on the government to work with the EHRC to agree specific enforcement actions across both the public and private sectors.

"Specifically, recruitment agencies should accept greater responsibility for collecting data on where older workers are being excluded and developing a plan of action to remove discrimination from the recruitment process," the conclusions say.