Selina Scott case could cause surge in age discrimination claim.

High profile age discrimination cases like that of Selina Scott will encourage more employees to take claims to court, experts have warned.
Following the news that TV presenter Scott reached a settlement with Channel Five after launching legal aciton for age discrimination, the EFA has urged employers to prepare for a surge in claims.
Read this article by Luisa Peacock, personneltoday.com, 8th December 2008

Scott settles Five legal action

TV presenter Selina Scott has reached a settlement with TV channel Five after suing them for age discrimination. The broadcaster has apologised for the offence it caused, while the financial terms of the settlement will remain confidential, her lawyers said.
Read this article BBC news, 5th December 2008

Babyboomers still partying on in their sixties

Toasted teacakes and orthopaedic slippers are definitely out for the new generation of silver partygoers. Forget about careful driving and wide-fitting shoes - life today is miles more stimulating for baby-boomers. They're healthier and happier and longer-living than any of their predecessors and, having made it into their sixites with their libido more or less intact, have no intention of going slow in the bedroom.

Lulu celebrates a wrinkle-free 60th birthday as she defies the ageing process

It was never an occasion she was going to shout about. So it came as no surprise that Lulu opted for a low-key way to celebrate her 60th birthday - a shopping spree with a companion.
Mailonline, 12th November 2008

Ageism, pensions and the end of high heels - it's time I spoke up

The decades towards the end of our lives can be every bit as rich as those earlier years, as full of pleasure and fulfilment, of family and friends, but when they get public attention it is ususally the negative kind, stories of problem pensions, spiralling heating bills or crimes against the elderly. This is probably why people dread landmark birthdays that arrive every five or 10 years, and are often clumsily eager to keep up with the young.

Joan Bakewell writes in the guardian.co.uk, Monday10th November 2008

Older workers are the key to defusing the demographic timebomb

The long-term decline in the UK's birth rate and number of young people entering the workforce is well known. But as the UK enters a likely deep recession, the problem of labour shortages may be offset if employers rethink their approach to older workers.

Read this article by Ronald McQuaid in personneltoday.com , 10th November 2008

Bakewell to champion the elderly

Broadcaster and writer Dame Joan Bakewell has been appointed a champion of the elderly by the government. Minister for Women Harriet Harman said the 75-year-old had agreed to be a Voice of Older People. Dame Joan, dubbed "the thinking man's crumpet" by comedian Frank Muir, will act as an "independent and informed advocate" on older people's issues.

Read the rest of this article in BBC news, Sunday 9th November 2008

Retirement age is not feasible for all employers

'I seem to be lone voice in the wilderness, but why have many HR practitioners leapt on the 'scrap the default retirement age' bandwagon?'

If keeping someone beyond their 65th birthday, or indeed starting them as a new employee, is good for our business at the time, then just go ahead and do it, but don't force it on everyone.

Read this article in the Daily Topic Alert of Personneltoday.com, 3rd November 2008

Do you fancy my mum?

Rachel Platt thinks her mum - Diane - is far too young at 54 to have given up on love. So she decides to take matters into her own hands and find her a boyfriend

Read her article in The Guardian Family section Saturday 25th October 2008

Age, retirement, disability and employment

It's two years since the age regulations came into force in the UK. The CIPD have updated the information on their website for up-to-date guidance. It introduces the basics of age discrimination legislation, explains about employment practices which do not disciminate on the grounds of age.

Read their fact sheet CIPD 15th October 2008

Parkinson's linked to vitamin D

Scientists are testing whether vitamin D supplements can ease symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

A US team found 55% of Parkinson's patients had insufficient levels of vitamin D, compared to 36% of healthy elderly people. However, the Emory University researchers do not yet know if the vitamin deficiency is a cause or the result of having Parkinson's.

Read this article on BBC news website 13th October 2008

Heyday warns retirement age challenge is not over yet

The legal challenge against the UK's mandatory retirement age is far from over, Heyday has warned.

Personneltoday.com, 2nd October 2008

Membership of the '100' club at its highest!

The number of centenarians has hit an all-time high of 9,300.

Read more in an article by Jonothann Prynn, Evening Standard, Monday 29th September 2008

Anti-wrinkle cream ad was misleading, rules advertising watchdog

There is no firm evidence that a best-selling skin cream reduces wrinkles, an official investigation as found.

by Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Independent, Wednesday 17th September, 2008

Weekly dilemma from Personneltoday.com:withdrawing a contract on age grounds

'We recently offered a contract to an applicant for a public-facing job. That person has acccepted and returned the contract and signed it. My boss has had second thoughts about employing this person as he thinks she's too old for the job...'

Read the answer to this in Personneltoday.com, Monday 15th September 2008

France: Woman, 59, is oldest mother of triplets

A woman in France has become the oldest known mother of triplets after giving birth at 59, reigniting the debate about late pregnancy and so-called fertility tourism.

written by Lizzy Davis in Paris. The Guardian, Tuesday September 9th 2009

NHS 'excels at hip and knee ops'

The NHS is being praised for its success in carrying out hip and knee replacements - but doubts remain about some of the newer techniques.

A study of 150,000 joint replacements found just one in 75 patients needed revisions within three years.

More at BBC News channel, Monday, 1st September 2008

Job ad for inexperienced teacher ruled as indirect age discrimination by Milton Keynes Council

A council has been found guilty of indirect age discrimination by advertising for a teacher in 'the first five years of their career', it has emerged. Milton Keynes Council failed to shortlist a 61-year-old woman with 34 years' teaching experience....

Selina Scott in age discrimination row with Channel Five

Newsreader Selina Scott is set to sue Channel Five for age discrimination after claiming she was lined up as maternity cover for Natasha Kaplinksy in Five News but rejected for being too old.
Newspaper reports claim that Scott, 57, is seeking compensation under age discrimination legislation.

Mike Berry writes for Personneltoday.com, 1st September 2008 read the rest of this article

Weekly dilemma from Personneltoday.com: Renegotiating contracts for 65-year-olds

A valued employee will be 65 this October. We'd like to keep him on, but also see this as an oportunity to renegotiate his contract. What are we allowed to do as regards salary and terms and conditions etc?

Read the answer to this in Personneltoday.com, 27th August 2008

National Association of Pension Funds: conference preview

The National Association of Pension Funds holds its annual conference in October. With pension provision high on employers' agendas, what can HR professionals expect to get from the event?

Read more in Personneltoday.com, Tuesday 26th August 2008

YOUR EMPLOYER WILL STILL NEED YOU WHEN YOU'RE 64 (AND A LITTLE MORE)

One thing you cannot deny is ageing. This has been a source of satisfaction to me over the past year....... Ageing, by contrast, cannot be denied.

The evidence stares one in the face, every morning I shave my father. So what has this journey into the Business of Ageing taught me?

Read this article by John Llewellyn in The Observer, Business & Media, 24th August 2008. John Llewellyn is senior economic policy adviser at Lehman Brothers.

The old have a powerful role to play. We're gong to enjoy it. As Britian's population ages, there is going to be less tolerance for the discrimination practiced by a younger generation.

The news that pensioners now outnumber teenagers under 16 should surprise nobody. This statistic has been sailing slowly but surely towards us like a stately Saga cruiseship for decades and we have been unable to chage its course.

Margaret Drabble writes in The Observer, Comment & Debate, 24th August, 2008 Read the rest of this article

Over 50s being neglected hospital

Hospitals fail to provide basic care to over-50s, particularly if they are old and frail, research has suggested
Sarah Knapton writes in the Telegraph, 15th August 2008

How one day we may all be eternally young

GROWING OLD may not be mandatory after all. Failling eyesight, loosened teeth and greying hair could be driven by regulatory genes that determine when it is time to shuffle off our mortal coil, rather than being indicators of the ravages of age.

Jeremy Laurence Health Editor The Independent, Friday 25th July 2008 Read all this article

Middle-aged 'fitter' than young

Middle-aged men and women in England are more likely to play sport than younger people, research suggests.

BBCNews - Health, Thursday 24th July 2008 Read more

Helen Mirren has been in the news this week.

Helen Mirren the bikini queen reigns supreme at 63

Most women only a few days away from their 63rd birthday would be steering well clear of the beach.....Dame Helen Mirren, however, is happy to flaunt her enviable curves and flat stomach in a bikini.

Read the article in the 'dailymail' online, Monday 22nd July 2008

Calendar Girl Mirren does it again

It was only a bikini. But it had the power to set tongues wagging and pulses racing around the globe...... Is it so shocking to be sexy at 60? Perhaps not, but most agreed it is still surpirsing in an era when youth has been elevated to cult status.'

The Independent Sunday, 20th July 2008 Read more

You calling us old? We never felt so young

It used to be the cue for collecting your free bus pass and spending more time pruning roses. But in an era of improved healthcare, wonder drugs and longer lives, hitting 65 is no longer synonymous with frailty and sickness. We ask the new generation of pensioners what the second 'coming of age' means to them.

Read the article

'I actually feel a slight relief that I'm not 25 anymore... I've found peace'

JONATHAN AITKEN BORN 30 AUGUST 1942 Former Conservative MP, imprisoned for seven months for perjury in 1999

'I'm going to be 65 on 2 August. I felt more trepidation about 60. I suppose 65 is considered retirement age, but writers don't retire.

ROSE TREMAIN BORN 2AUGUST 1943 Acclaimed author. Her latest novel, The Road Home, won the 2008 Orange Prize.

Read the rest of this article

All in The Observer REVIEW 29th June 2008

MEMORY LOSS - the facts.

Your memory can, experts now agree, be largely what you make it. "The average person's memory deteriorates as they get older, but that's not due to the ageing process..."
Read the article in Prima on line 3rd June 2008

HOW STRONG ARE YOUR BONES?

It's a question worth asking now - before learning the hard way that they're not quite as invincible as you thought
Prima on line 5rd June 2008

Personnel Today has developed a new Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) service, powered by employee engagement experts TRACOM, to help organisations get the most from their workforce.Why are Employee Opinion Surveys important to your organisation?

Personneltoday.com, 1st June 2008. Read more and to sign up for more information about the Employee Opinion Survey (OES) service

Earlier this year the Office for National Statistics released figures that showed 95,000 more people over the age of 50 were in work than in the last quarter of 2007.

But what does this increase of older people in the workplace mean for employers? How can organisations balance the issue of age discrimination with a desire to cater for this potentially well-experienced group of employees?
Questions and Answers from Personneltoday.com, 23rd May 2008

Age and pensions timebombs exploded.

Age discrimination laws have had one beneficial side effect - they allow us to explode the pensions timebomb myth. In 1798, Thomas Malthus predicted that the world's population would double and double and double until there was not a paving stone without a person standing on it and not enough food to feed everyone.

Read this article. Personneltoday.com 15th May 2008

Employees willing to work into seventies to fund decent retirement

Employees older than 40 are prepared to work well into their 70s to ensure a quality retirement, according toa study out this week. The fourth annual HSBC Future of Retirement study, which surveyed more than 20,000 people across four continents, found that more than one third of UK workers aged between 40 and 60 wanted the retirement age increased.

Read the rest of this article in Personneltoday.com, 14th May 2008

Facing the Future: The new Pearl Laser claims to turn back the clock on your skin. So does it work and what are the risks?

Mail on Sunday, 25th May 2008 Read the article

Employees older than 40 are prepared to work well into their 70s to ensure a quality retirement, according to a study out this week

The fourth annual HSBC Future of Retirement study, which surveyed more than 20,000 people across four continents, found that more than one-third of UK workers aged between 40 and 60 wanted the retirement age increased.
Personneltoday.com, 26th May 2008 Read more

UK Pensions under pressure

With major changes coming up in the way employers offer pensions, our exclusive survey reveals there are still many gaps in both employer and employee understanding. In March 2008, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) found that pensions continue to be the most important benefit an employer can offer.
Personneltoday.com, 1st May 2008 Read more

Sex, medication and rock'n'roll hits the stage

Icelandic ensemble brings musical of life in an old people's home to London.
It is likely to be one of the oldest casts ever assembled for a British stage production .... songs by Nick Cave and David Bowie. At the Lyric Hammersmith, London, May 29th - June 21st

Read the article by Mark Brown, Arts correspondent, The Guardian/April 26 2008

Who needs a surgeon to look good?

Nip and tuck culture given cold shoulder
Women of a certain age are told to forget plastic and make the most of natural beauty.
Read the article by Amelia Hill and Joanna Walters,
The Observer Sunday 20th April 2008

Best policies for workers over the age of 50

The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) is collaborating with the America Association of Retired Persons for an global award scheme for employers with the best policies for workers over the age of 50. For more details on these awards.....

Published by Personnel Today 08th April 2008

Read more

No rush to retire older workers

There.......was Dame Carol Black launching her report, Working for a Healthier Tomorrow, looking fit, as you would expect of a post-retirement age long-distance walker and runner' Black rightly argues that keepig people in work is infinitely better for their health than a sick-note culture that ingrains incapacity...

This article first appeared in Personnel Today magazine 09 April 2008

Does mother know what's best for baby? That's not the way grandmothers see it

By Amelia Hill, Social Affairs Correspondent - The Observer, 06.04.08

Grandmothers are watching in horror as their children turn into over-ambitious, competitive parents with pampered, demanding offspring, according to a new report into how women's experience of motherhood has changed over the generations.

Full article

Workers told not to panic over pension fund fears

PersonnelToday.com
Full article

Career change appeals to many over-50s

By Sarah Womack, Social Affairs Correspondent - Daily Telegraph

The over-50s feel more inspired than retired, according to a new study that claims that many find their dream job only after they have passed their half-century.
Full article

Over 55? Then the job's yours

By Sarah O'Grady, Social Affairs Correspondent - Daily Express

PDF - 431Kb

Did you know....a recent Saga survey of 10,000 over-50s found that 65% were sexually active and one in 10 were putting themselves at risk - not using a condom despite not knowing about the partner's sexual past; 70% claimed to be more fulfilled than during their younger years.

The Guardian Weekend March 15 2008

Published by Personnel Today 08th April 2008 Read more

No rush to retire older workers

This article first appeared in Personnel Today magazine 09 April 2008

Published by Personnel Today 08th April 2008

Read more