Age concerns

As the government considers scrapping firms' ability to enforce retirement at 65, there has never been a better time for the food industry to take stock of its position in relation to ageism.

At first glance, it might appear to be in good shape. After all, it employs a large proportion of workers aged 50 and above, despite the physical demands of many jobs in the sector. It also employs a fair cross-section of other ages.

And haven't the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 clamped down on instances of age discrimination in the workplace? Don't you believe it, says one recruitment agency that refuses to be named. It claims it regularly receives specific requests regarding the age profile of job candidates from food manufacturing clients.

With regard to discrimination against older workers, Owen Warnock, senior office partner at Eversheds, says: "In the food manufacturing sector, some jobs are still physically active roles. The issue of people not being able to do these jobs when they are older is more of an issue than for desk-bound jobs."

Warnock says while in work, older staff can sometimes find themselves passed over for training and development, because bosses assume they are no longer interested in marketing their skills. And he has seen a few cases in food manufacturing where people in the last 10 years of their working life have claimed they have lost jobs because of their age. "But it's usually because people can't put in enough attendance with their employer because of ill health."

Employers do have some protection here, he says. The law allows them to end people's employment if they physically can't do their job. And in extreme cases where nine out of 10 people in a department are nearing retirement, you can encourage people of a particular age to apply and target advertising at this group.

Otherwise, you are on perilous ground, although cases of age-discrimination in relation to recruitment are hard to prove. "Successful cases are very rare indeed," says Warnock. "Tribunals often only see a handful each year. People may think they didn't get the job because they were too old or young, but the company won't tell them that, so they are guessing."

However, bosses shouldn't get complacent, he says even a slight age bias can grow over time. "No doubt many managers have misconceptions about old people's stamina and dexterity, and that younger people are less reliable."

Rachel Kris, campaign director at Employers Forum on Age (EFA), says it's easy to be unknowingly influenced by the surrounding workplace culture. "The danger is we either employ people who are a bit like us or we say, 'Bob has been doing the job for 25 years, he's 50, so let's get someone like Bob'."

It doesn't take much thought to explode the myths about age, she says. "Someone's age will not tell you how long they will stay with a company. Younger people can move on after a short time and also take just as much time off sick as older people."

Some argue keeping older workers on stops younger workers moving up, but the job market doesn't work on a one-in, one-out basis, says a spokesman for Age Concern England. "The evidence is that whenever you encourage people to retire to make space for younger workers, it doesn't work out."

Kris says: "There's always a grain of truth in there, but stereotypes don't work across the piece. For every young person who turns up drunk to work on a Monday morning, you find another who is committed to work."

EFA has developed a job application form that bars irrelevant information such as age, and focuses purely on vital details, namely, says Kris: "Can they do it? Do they want to do it? How can they show they can do it?" EFA trialled the form first. "It had a massive impact on the kind of people shortlisted, which is scary for employers, but it works."

If you fail to combat potential prejudice and are telling agencies you have age-biased recruitment criteria, you are potentially open to a claim, says Warnock. Successful claims are damaging for businesses, he says. Common penalties for refusing someone a job on age grounds are six months' pay for the particular role, plus up to £12,000 for injured feelings. Firms could also face negative local press.

In recessions, ageism can occur where workers are forced to retire as a way of cutting staff without paying out redundancy packages. However, Warnock is positive on this. "I haven't seen many [recent] claims of that kind. That suggests either that employers have been rigorously following the law or people have been more willing to retire."

The way to avoid ageism is not to focus on it, says Paula Widdowson, director of corporate social responsibility at Northern Foods. "We're not interested in age, we're interested in ability." Staff at some Northern Foods factories have worked there on average for 20 years, but at newer plants, the average is more like four or five years, she says. Regarding training, the firm tends to find young and middle-aged people need more technical coaching. Older workers need to improve IT skills, for example for systems applications software.

While more than one in five workers in food and drink manufacturing have 15 or fewer years left before reaching retirement age, Widdowson says the situation can be addressed without positive discrimination.

"Lots of people can't afford to retire at 65. You'll also have people who don't want to retire because they want to keep active." In any case, government is reviewing the retirement age and could scrap it before the general election.

The industry needs all hands on deck to tackle the challenges of the future. That means it can't afford to be biased against any age group. If it commits to training and recruiting young and old based on true potential, that's a big step in the right direction.