Do’s
- Audit your business. Who have you got, where have you got them. what are the pinch points, where are the opportunities?
- Identify the benefits for the organisation in having an age diverse and age inclusive workplace. Communicate the benefits.
- Train your managers so they understand how easily they can get it wrong or get into hot water (legally speaking) . Be sure to cover challenges during performance reviews, recruitment, dismissal, capability management etc.
- Involve your staff or employee representatives as this is a group of people who can really support at ground level with all your diversity initiatives if you learn how to fully involve them.
- Give your staff and managers the knowledge they need to understand this issue and how to support your initiatives. Address any myths and legends and give them the facts and guidance.
Don’ts
- Get caught out because you haven’t double checked that none of your benefits (e.g. PHI) discriminate against younger or older workers. You need to ensure there are no lower or upper age limits.
- Pay so much attention to other protected characteristics such as sexual orientation that age issues are ignored or treated as irrelevant.
- Only focus on older workers or only focus on younger workers. There are challenges at both ends of the age scale so identify those and create a plan of attack.
- Don’t pay less attention to grievances about age issues than you would about transgender issues. As a result of not paying paying age discrimination enough attention, these businesses have had some expensive fines.
- Forget to talk to your staff when developing policy and guidance. Talk to those who are younger and older and get their real experiences as these can formulate your policy and guidance.
And finally…..
10.5 its all about communication. Ensure everyone feels able to talk about this kind of issue in a respectful way. Encourage staff to feel comfortable talking about age issues with each other and their managers. Encourage managers to ask questions of their staff. To feel confident in discussing issues about retirement, young workers etc so that communication takes place effectively and promptly.
This is a very brief overview, for a fuller understanding of what you can and can’t do when it comes to age, get in touch with our friendly HR and Employment Law specialists on 01425 479888 or help@docswizard.co.uk.