Addressing the ageing workforce: a critical examination of legal policy objectives and values in the United Kingdom

Blackham, Alysia

doi:10.1017/s0144686x16000313

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In that time, major policy reforms have changed radically the employment context for older workers. In particular, age discrimination legislation has been enacted, the mandatory retirement age has been outlawed (except in employer-justified cases), the right to request flexible working arrangements has been extended to all employees meeting minimum job tenure thresholds, and the age at which people can draw their state pension has been rising (Blackham 2017; Phillipson, Vickerstaff and Lain 2016). This article assesses the extent to which the changing policy landscape is feeding through into different employment practices for older workers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These policies have significantly improved the employment rights of older workers (though for a critique, see Blackham 2017). Protection against age discrimination and ending the mandatory retirement age for most employees mean that people cannot be forced out of work simply because of their age, or face discrimination in employment practices, such as recruitment and selection, training and career progression, without recourse to the law.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extending working life and the management of change. Is the workplace ready for the ageing worker?

et al. 2018

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Increasing longevity and the strain on state and occupational pensions have brought into question long-held assumptions about the age of retirement, and raised the prospect of a workplace populated by ageing workers. In the United Kingdom the default retirement age has gone, incremental increases in state pension age are being implemented and ageism has been added to workplace anti-discrimination laws. These changes are yet to bring about the anticipated transformation in workplace demographics, but it is coming, making it timely to ask if the workplace is ready for the ageing worker and how the extension of working life will be managed. We report findings from qualitative case studies of five large organisations located in the United Kingdom. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with employees, line managers, occupational health staff and human resources managers. Our findings reveal a high degree of uncertainty and ambivalence among workers and managers regarding the desirability and feasibility of extending working life; wide variations in how older workers are managed within workplaces; a gap between policies and practices; and evidence that while casualisation might be experienced negatively by younger workers, it may be viewed positively by financially secure older workers seeking flexibility. We conclude with a discussion of the challenges facing employers and policy makers in making the modern workplace fit for the ageing worker.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending working life and the management of change. Is the workplace ready for the ageing worker?

et al. 2018

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“…As those who provide much of the informal care in our society, and who live with the effects of past and present gender pay gaps, women tend to be most affected by this lack of flexibility. It has been argued that ongoing government commitment may shift practice over time through becoming embedded in workplace culture (Blackham, 2017), yet as pointed out in this report, an ongoing issue is that most employers are unaware of the EWL agenda.…”

Section: Main Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…This is viewed as having a detrimental effect on employee planning around the options that might be open to them if they wish to extend their working life (Wainwright et al, 2019). Blackham (2017) suggests that policy commitment may help to shift practices across time, but without addressing the fear and confusion expressed by some employers through effective promotion of available support or more robust mechanisms in place to ensure the law is enforced, this may be over optimistic.…”

Section: Legislation Which Protects the Rights Of Workers: Impact On Ewlsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exclusion and Inequality in Late Working Life: National Country Context: UK

Alden¹,

Foster²,

Walker³

2021

Rapporter Från Åldrande Och Social Förändring

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Extending Working Lives (EWLs hereafter) is an important policy goal across many Western countries. This document traces how policy developments have formed the existing EWLs agenda in the UK context. It explores the interrelationship between demographic shifts, policy reform, changing organisational and cultural practices, and technological drivers across groups with diverse life course trajectories. It needs to be borne in mind that UK development is influenced by wider, global influences and shared experiences, such as the OECD level shift toward later retirement pathways. There are also imminent political and cultural changes taking place in the UK which will have an ongoing influence on EWLs, such as the European Union exit. Section 7 provides an overview of the development and framing of policies relevant to EWL, as well as levels of participation. Section 8 focuses on macro national regime characteristics and socio-demographic characteristics across subgroups of older people. Section 9 goes into greater detail on the main inequalities which have a negative impact on EWLs and Section 12 draws on the key policies that impact on EWLs, with consideration of the main inequalities within this.

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“…Improving occupational health provision, training and flexible working would enable a 'fuller', rather than an extended working life. Blackham (2017) identifies that there is no overall UK strategy for older workers and no coherent vision or pattern of regulation. A review of the fortunes of older workers is pressing for the UK.…”

Section: Ageing Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The employee voice of older local government workers: a critical perspective

Goodwin¹

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This study explores how environmental, organizational and individual factors combine to influence the employee voice of older local government workers in five councils in the North of England. It is built on a multiphase qualitative research design, using 36 semi-structured interviews, an observation and a workshop. Guided by critical theory and a cross-paradigmatic approach, the research draws on the perspectives of a stratified sample of participants to consider whether older workers have a consistently fair and equitable employee voice. Participants include leaders, managers, trade unionists and older workers. The findings are presented according to five key themes established using template analysis, relating firstly to the local government context; secondly human resource management practice; thirdly local government employee voice; fourthly the older worker's perception of voice and fifthly the significance of age to employee voice.The research finds that older workers are a heterogeneous group, who value direct forms of employee voice as a source of recognition and identity. Factors including role, disability and employment contract type, intersect to disadvantage certain employees, so supporting the legitimacy of the collective voice of the trade unions. Organizational factors restricting employee voice originate in new public management practices, such as the outsourcing that disrupts voice channels, and human resource management that has an increasingly managerial and unitarist outlook. A hierarchy of managerial hegemonies, with central government at the pinnacle and local government below, emphasise performance enhancing employee voice over social justice mechanisms.Organizational factors expediting employee voice in the councils are the traditionally pluralist employment relations, public sector ethos and an embedded respect for equality and diversity.The research concludes that as a component of an open system, external environmental factors are most significant to the employee voice of older workers. These include austerity, societal ageism, an incoherent central government strategy for older workers, weak equality legislation and unfavourable pension regulations.

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Addressing the ageing workforce: a critical examination of legal policy objectives and values in the United Kingdom

Cited by 12 publications

References 58 publications

Extending working life and the management of change. Is the workplace ready for the ageing worker?

Extending working life and the management of change. Is the workplace ready for the ageing worker?

Exclusion and Inequality in Late Working Life: National Country Context: UK

The employee voice of older local government workers: a critical perspective

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