Ageism must be addressed
New directive coming into force next October means firms must comply
Channel players need to start looking at their employment policies now to make sure they will comply when a new ageism directive becomes law next October, trade union Amicus has warned.
Peter Ksyte, Amicus national officer with responsibility for IT, told CRN: " The Equal Treatment at Work Directive has been around for some time but next year a new strand covering age discrimination will become law. Employers should start revising all their recruitment, selection, promotion and training procedures to make sure they comply."
A survey of 500 IT workers, conducted by the Labour Research Department on behalf of Amicus, showed that 71 per cent of respondents believed their employer treated people less favourably because of age.
Recruitment and redundancy selection were the two areas where most people felt discrimination existed (39 per cent and 37 per cent respectively), closely followed by pay (33 per cent), promotion (33 per cent) and training (29 per cent).
"There is a real perception that IT is a young persons industry so it was a surprise that some young people surveyed felt that they were discriminated against for being too young," added Skyte.
Nick Kalisperas, director at IT trade body Intellect, felt that there wasn't a great deal of awareness about the forthcoming legislation. "We have to make sure there is a balance between this directive and not over burdening businesses. For younger workers we have to ensure they have a clear and attractive career path and for older workers industry must make sure their skills aren’t lost."
Leanne Gravil, branch manager at VAR CBC Computer Systems, said: " When we're looking to take on a new recruit we want someone who will be with the company for 15 to 20 years, not someone who is nearing retirement age and will only be with us for perhaps five years.
"I find the older applicants have usually been made redundant and are trying to get into IT because they need a job, not because they really love IT, whereas the younger applicants tend to have studied IT at college and really have a passion for it."