Age Equality and Human Rights

Campaigning works!

Age UK Norfolk has been campaigning with Age UK to get the government to outlaw age discrimination. On 8th April 2010 a new Equalities Bill gained Royal Assent. The Bill included the outlawing of age discrimination in the provision of goods and services and in health and social care - great news for all older people. The provisions in the Bill will start to become law from October 2010.

However, there is one area that was not included in the Bill and still allows employers to discriminate on the grounds of age - the Bill did not include the ending of a mandatory retirement age. This means that although the government want people to continue to work, employers can still sack someone on their 65th birthday and not be held to account for it, and anyone permitted to work after their 65th birthday will not have any rights to employment protection.

Age UK Norfolk will continue to campaign to end the discrimination that continues to exist and would ask that you support us in that campaign. You can do this by writing to your MP demanding that he/she will do something about it and challenge the government to do away with mandatory retirement ages (this is a different issue to the age at which the state pension is paid).

To get involved in our campaign please contact Eamon McGrath either by email, telephone on 01603 785222 or write to him at our County Office address.  

If you would like to see what older people said about age discrimination read the report of the conference held in Norwich in April 2009 (PDF, 3.41Mb).



Page last updated April 2010.   

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