GOVERNMENT’S FIRST YEAR, THE BONUS YEARS AND BRITAIN’S BORN-AGAIN WORKFORCE.

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAGA

PRESS RELEASE

May 10, 2011.

GOVERNMENT’S FIRST YEAR, THE BONUS YEARS AND BRITAIN’S BORN-AGAIN WORKFORCE.

The coalition government can guarantee bonus years beyond its current term if it continues providing bonus years for Britain’s older generations, and gets big buy-in from the most powerful group of voters.

That’s the message from Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of over-50s lifestyle organisation Saga, who says that a year into government, the coalition has done a brilliant job of ditching the Default Retirement Age – but now she wants to see the same effort put into other proposals and policies affecting older people.

“There’s definitely an improvement for older people on some fronts, but the coalition’s young front-bench frontline team hasn’t quite got the required appreciation and vice-like grip on all the issues, and what the most powerful group of voters – older people, who are twice as likely to vote as younger generations – want and need,” said Dr Altmann.

“They want ‘bonus years’ – years beyond their 60s when they can carry on working part-time and earning. The legislation is there, as is the potential for legal enforcement of questionable employer tactics, but perhaps not quite the focus of support and creativity to ensure current or prospective employers embrace the concept of part-time work as enthusiastically as the born-again workforce.

“So, in my assessment of the government’s first year, my report would be littered with opposites: the government has delivered some brilliant reforms in its first year, but I’ve also scribbled ‘disaster’, ‘unpopular’, ‘too slow’ and ‘no help’ in the comment boxes too.

“The coalition promised it would 'reinvigorate pensions and retirement'. It certainly can’t be accused of pushing pensions into the long grass - it has been a struggle to keep up with the pace of new proposals. But, overall, it has done more to potentially reinvigorate retirement years than pension plans.

“Older people want to work longer – ideally part-time, whether for pleasure, keeping active, lifestyle, stimulation or money – and to enjoy those bonus years.

“I’m being realistic, not negative, when I say the real downers are around women’s state pension age - but that is part of a bigger picture of raising pension ages being a necessary policy because of ongoing economic issues. We do welcome public sector pension reforms, but there is a deep concern over the unions’ reactions to even these mild proposals. I’m also concerned about the impact of pensions being linked to CPI, and that rock-bottom interest rates and rising inflation may also cause older people problems.

“My final report comment? It would be ‘must try just a little harder – and respect your elders’,” said Dr Altmann.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

Twitter: @Press_Relations

www.saga.co.uk

MANY “RESENTFUL” UNDER-24S WOULDN’T HAVE WORK WITHOUT OLDER COLLEAGUES.

EMMA SOAMES

SAGA

PRESS RELEASE

April 19, 2011.

MANY “RESENTFUL” UNDER-24S WOULDN’T HAVE WORK WITHOUT OLDER COLLEAGUES.

Commenting on research* by care provider Anchor that revealed more than 40% of 18-24s resented older people staying in work, Emma Soames, Editor-at-Large of Saga Magazine and over-50s champion, said:

“Young people perhaps underestimate the contribution of older people in the workplace. People notice fuss or flurries of activity around workplace decision-making, usually involving the less-experienced who will often ultimately ask an older person for advice anyway.

“But older people have the life and work experience to make business or work decisions more calmly, and consequently faster, simply because they’ve been there before.

“It’s therefore ironic that some of the most important workplace decisions, quietly and decisively made by older people at all levels, have and do create and maintain jobs for the younger generations.”

* Link to original story.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.saga.co.uk

ENDING THE DEFAULT RETIREMENT AGE IS A MUST, SAYS DR ROS ALTMANN.

DR ROS ALTMANN


DIRECTOR GENERAL, SAGA

PRESS RELEASE



January 13, 2010.



ENDING THE DEFAULT RETIREMENT AGE IS A MUST, SAYS DR ROS ALTMANN.



Commenting on the Government’s announcement on timing of the ending of the Default Retirement Age, Dr Ros Altmann, Director General of Saga, said:



“The Government's decision to ban employers from being able to sack their staff just for being age 65 is brilliant news. This should have been done many years ago. As the first baby-boomer has reached 65 this year and as millions more will reach that age in the next few years, the labour market has to adjust to reality.



“Most people are not old at 65 any more - they are not ready for the scrapheap, work-wise. Indeed, they still have valuable skills and experience which, if lost, would damage all our futures.



“A recent Saga Survey of the over 50s showed that nearly half of those not yet retired want to work past the age of 65 and around 7% want to work into their 70s.



“Employers need to adjust the new realities. They will have to assess how to judge workers' skills and abilities for the job, rather than retaining the easy option of just getting rid of them because of their age. Such age discrimination has no place in a modern economy. If a worker is fit and able to do their job, or if a worker is not up to their job, then Human Resources managers must find ways to assess and prove this.



“The ideal will be to facilitate far more part-time work in later life, with employers and workers having a mature discussion about the best way to retain workers' skills as they reach their 60s. As more of the baby boomers reach this age, it will be beneficial to all of us to keep them in the labour force, producing and earning to support the economy and themselves. If we waste their skills and throw them out of work, without much money to live on, they will have less to spend, create less jobs for younger workers and set in train economic decline.



“Well done to the Government for finally introducing this much needed reform.”



Ends



Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.saga.co.uk

IGNORE CALLS FOR DELAY OF DEFAULT RETIREMENT AGE ABOLITION, SAYS ROS ALTMANN.

DR ROS ALTMANN

DIRECTOR GENERAL, SAGA

PRESS RELEASE

December 13, 2010

IGNORE CALLS FOR DELAY OF DEFAULT RETIREMENT AGE ABOLITION, SAYS ROS ALTMANN.

Dr Ros Altmann, Director General of Saga, says calls by business leaders to delay the abolition of the Default Retirement Age should be ignored.

Dr Altmann said: “The Default Retirement Age Should have been abolished years ago.  The timetable must certainly not slip.  Ageism has no place in a modern labour market.  

“Of course it is more convenient for employers to be able to just sack someone for being 65, but that is not fair on the workers themselves.  It is also a huge waste of our national resources.  

“Employers must judge workers fairly. People are not old or 'past it' at 65 any more.  Of course some people are not fit to work, but that applies at much younger ages too and employers will have to adjust their attitudes and assess workers' skills objectively, not on the basis of old-fashioned prejudice.  Most people still have enormous amounts to offer employers.

“Longer working lives are an essential element of overcoming our pensions crisis. The first baby-boomers reach age 65 in 2011 and the demographics mean millions more following in coming years.  

“Their pensions have not worked out in the way they had expected, and they are still fit and healthy.  They would much rather stay on at work than be forced to retire.  If they are forced out of the labour market, they will end up poorer in retirement and that will impact the economy as a whole, as they will have less money to spend.

“Whether or not a worker is suitable for employment should be determined by their skill and ability, not their chronological age.  Employers must be obliged to assess workers' suitability for their jobs on an individual basis, not according to some arbitrary criteria that consigns older workers to a labour market scrapheap on which they do not belong.

“There is a whole new phase of life waiting for workers - a period of years when they work part-time, cutting down gradually rather than suddenly stopping altogether.  

“This is the way forward for employers and the sooner they wake up to the new realities, the better.  Retirement should be a process, not an event, with 'bonus years' of part-time work that allow workers to keep earning and employers to retain their skills.

“Flexible retirement and gradual change in work patterns, or perhaps use of older workers for mentoring, training younger workers in firm-specific skills, job-sharing and so on will all require careful handling, but would be of enormous benefit to employers, employees and society as a whole. Unless people keep working longer, we will all be poorer in future.”

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

im@pressrelations.co.uk

07788 978800

www.saga.co.uk

NOTES
Saga carried out a survey of 14,178 people aged over 50.  85% thought that employees should have the right to a staged retirement.  Our recent research shows that 38% want to continue working past state pension age and more than a third of people who have already retired say they would prefer to be doing some paid work.

HR departments already, in many cases, understand the benefits of employing older workers.  Saga’s own assessment of older workers shows that their performance is not dependent on their age.  Also, employers have made flexible work available for women (for example after childbirth) and such policies can be extended to assist older workers stay in employment after their full-time careers and before full-time retirement

TRAINSPOTTERS TAKE ON THE VOLCANO – AND WIN

MANAGEMENT INTELLIGENCE CONSULTING

PRESS RELEASE

April 21, 2010.

TRAINSPOTTERS TAKE ON THE VOLCANO – AND WIN.

Employees who tackled the Icelandic ash travel crisis head-on and battled their way home and back to work could reap the reward of a huge career boost.

Bridget Biggar, managing director of talent assessment and leadership development organisation Management Intelligence www.miconsulting.co.uk, has described the fallout from the European-wide flight ban as the biggest, toughest and most accurate aptitude test ever.

“My message to employers is to get the gossip going, hear the stories, find out how people dug deep to find a way home and then maybe re-align your opinion of the bolshy and apparently over-confident middle manager or the shrinking accounts clerk: they could be the successors you’re looking for,” said Bridget.

“The approach people take to finding a way back to work, battling through, round over or under the obstacles the European flight ban has created, could be a great indicator of an employee’s true resourcefulness, capability and potential.

“The travel chaos could be, for some people, the greatest thing that has ever happened to them – completely changing their lives and life approach.

“Taking able-bodied, capable, intelligent business people and workers, there’s basically four types of individuals stuck abroad: those who’ll simply sit and wait to be rescued, those who’ll suddenly react out of fear, those who might be described as trainspotters, and those who’ll not stand for any nonsense and will tackle head-on the inconvenience created by the volcano.

“The real dynamos are the resourceful thinkers and risk-takers who relish the challenge of finding a way home, and enjoy it as an adventure. These are the guys who will think laterally to get round obstacles, and will simply find a way. That’s how they conduct their business. Those junior managers who find a way home ahead of the rest are showing signs of being high-fliers and high-achievers.

“They’re the ones who hit the laptop or the phone the second they smell an issue, and are first out of the closed airport and grabbing the initiative, making the judgement call – waiting for nothing or nobody except any group they may be in or have formed – and snatching the first hotel room, cab, bus or train available and making sure they gain position or advantage.

“They think laterally – literally. They’ll quickly gain spatial awareness, understand where they are, and be fast to work out that heading north may not be the best way to actually make big progress north. They’ll examine every option, fast – but they’ll also use their credit card limits as battering rams.

“The ‘trainspotters’ are in their element. They know every rail timetable in Europe - or know where to find them - and will know how to make a travel plan click into place while keeping a tight grip on budget. Knowledge of timetables gives them location awareness. Fantastic organisers, but much maligned for their eccentric enthusiasm. But what they bring is certainty – barring French rail workers’ strikes – which has massive value when people are absorbing huge doses of uncertainty.

“When major obstacles are presented, creativity is key. People who are scared, worried or anxious narrow their field of thinking, but those who relish the challenge of beating something even as big as a volcano find fuel in the thought.

“The risk-averse, with no imagination - will simply sit there, accept what they’re told and wait to be rescued. They’re out-and-out followers in the workplace, with no initiative.

“But there’s also the risk-averse who suddenly spur themselves into doing something because they’re scared of getting into trouble by missing work. This sort of challenge could change their lives because they suddenly discover they have latent potential and capability, and develop a sense of purpose. They’re the true potential winners who will benefit from their Eureka moment.

“Employers could learn more about their staff from the exercise of simply getting home than any amount of assessment in the office. Not everybody is a fantastic communicator, and most people will either massively overstate or modestly understate their belief in themselves in a review.

“But the challenges presented by the flight bans arising from the volcanic ash cloud could, for some people, be the biggest and most accurate psychometric test they’d ever face: dumping somebody in the middle of Europe, the Far East or North America and then telling them to find their way home would be an utterly impractical exercise in the course of normal assessment.

“It may seem like idle office gossip, but employers could do much worse than tap in to the chat about how people stranded abroad during the travel crisis managed to make it home and then to work, and learn from the determination, ingenuity, problem-solving, communication, judgment calls and resourcefulness their staff applied.”

Management Intelligence helps maximise talent, productivity and business success by enhancing the performance delivery of individuals, teams and organisations, driving improved profitability through better business processes and developing employee engagement.

It has offices in London and the Middle East, and is part of All About Brands plc (AAB plc – www.aabplc.com), the brands and marketing services group.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800

im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.miconsulting.co.uk

www.aabplc.com

EMPLOYMENT LAWYER: ICELANDIC ASH COULD NULL EVERY EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT IN THE UK

SAS DANIELS LLP

PRESS RELEASE

April 20, 2010.

CHESHIRE EMPLOYMENT LAWYER: ICELANDIC ASH COULD NULL EVERY EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT IN THE UK.

Virtually every employment contract in the UK may have to be torn up and re-written as a consequence of the Icelandic ash crisis.

Cheshire-based employment lawyer Jonathan Whittaker of SAS Daniels LLP, one of the North West’s biggest law firms, said: “There will be barely an employment contract anywhere that makes provision for such a universally insurmountable catastrophe – both employers and employees could be seen to be taking advantage.

“What is unique is that in one fell swoop, those who have been affected by the ash crisis – whether employee or employer – are likely to find themselves in a void, and potentially in dispute, on issues including holiday entitlement, unauthorised absence, overtime and stress.

“Being 24 hours late back from Majorca after French air traffic controllers embark upon their perennial industrial action is one thing, but when some people are told they may have to wait until May for flights back from Los Angeles then that takes matters into an entirely different league.

“There are no contractual terms that allow provision for that sort of out-of-their-hands absence – and while 24 or 48 hours late back might mean a few pulled faces, being two weeks late or more is going to be a severe test of goodwill on the part of the employer.

“There will be the question of just how hard people try to get back to the UK and back to work, and the issue of making up for lost production or clearing of backlogs through overtime.

“When the ash and dust has all settled – literally – the difficulties at the time will be quickly forgotten. Staff will have been using up their holiday entitlement when they may not have wanted to, but employers may say that they never authorised additional holidays and that the employees were absent without permission and just refuse to pay wages.

“After all, the employer may have had to recruit agency staff at extra cost to the business.

“Dismissal is not an option for employers as it is not misconduct, and the length of the time away – assuming reasonable efforts were made to get back - would not justify disciplinary proceedings in my view, unless the employee could be proven to be taking advantage, or shown not to be making every reasonable effort to get to work.

“Employers who are losing money from not having employees there to do the work might be wanting employees to work double hard to make up for lost time. Therefore there may be pressure to do overtime when the employee returns - and this might be very unpopular - there may not be any term in the contract which allows for this and so this may give rise to disagreements.

“However, if the holiday year runs January to December, or, even worse, April to April, it may be a long time before some employees will be able to take another holiday.”

SAS Daniels LLP which has offices in Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester, Congleton and Bramhall.

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley or Megan Codling

07788 978800 / 07795 848586

im@pressrelations.co.uk / mc@pressrelations.co.uk / www.sasdaniels.co.uk