2006 is not far away

I am not one of life’s natural lovers of government legislation that seeks to restrict the freedoms of business. By 2006 the European Directive on Equal Treatment will be in place to ban age discrimination at work. As a great believer in the law of unintended consequences I am unsure where this new law will lead.
Now if you have never heard of this legislation you are in good company, since most businesses in the UK are in the same position. If you want a quick briefing go to the Government’s Age Positive web site.

Margaret Hughes, wrote in last Saturday’s Guardian, an amusing (distressing) article about the way the Government seems confused what the legislation means for its own employees in the public sector. This article also gives some good background about the law.

These facts keeps appearing in the discussion of this legislation ‘..currently just over 6 million people aged between 50 and state pension age are in employment - an employment rate of 69 per cent. The employment rate for men aged 50-64 is 71 per cent and for women aged 50-59 is 66 per cent. Since 1997 the employment rate of older people has risen faster than that of the working age population as a whole..’

I guess this is what you would expect, but I wonder if it has been reflected in the policies of companies targeting older people as either employees or consumers?

Laws like this and those concerned with disabilities discrimination will have an increasing impact on the marketer.