Older workers benefit health sector

The report, commissioned by DWP’s Age Partnership Group and Age Positive Campaigns, and coinciding with new anti-age discrimination legislation that came into force in October, examined the challenges faced by the health sector in relation to the recruitment, training and retention of older workers.

James Purnell, Minister for Pension Reform, said: “As announced in the Pensions White Paper, we are working with employers to remove compulsory retirement ages and adopt flexible approaches. We recognise that we have an ageing population, with many older people who want the choice to continue working rather than retire.

Key finding from the showed that the health sector had a high percentage of older workers; were better prepared for age regulations; and that around 40% of establishments used length of service to select redundancy and set contractual retirement ages.

The report also examined what employers were doing to remove compulsory retirement ages and adopt flexible approaches, as well as looking at how the age legislation affects young people in the workforce.