Age discrimination campaign receives “strong cross-party support”

A campaign to scrap the compulsory retirement age received “strong cross-party support from the House of Lords”.

That is according to the Employers Forum on Age (EFA) campaign, which has confirmed that discrimination against older workers is both “outdated” and potentially harmful to the economy.

The EFA states that there are still “fears” about abolishing the current default retirement age of 65 in the UK.

Catharine Pusey, director of the EFA, said: “As government minister Lord Carter pointed out, older workers will help businesses pull through and out of the economic downturn as markets improve, but conversely, they may be those who are often worst hit.”

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She explained that the EFA would work to increase awareness of the issue and push to “eradicate this age discriminatory piece of legislation”.

Lord Stevenson, president of EFA, made the point that “being 65 is not what it used to be”.

The EFA was founded in 1996 and is made up of an independent network of employers that campaigns for real change to create an “age diverse workforce”.