Rolls Royce had entered into collective agreements with trade union Unite that set out the agreed approach to be taken in a redundancy situation. In a redundancy selection process, employees would be assessed against five criteria: achievement of objectives; self-motivation; expertise/knowledge; versatility/application of knowledge; and wider personal contribution to the team. An individual could score…

The Chancellor’s commitment to a formal consultation on reforms to the Default Retirement Age will cause employers to review how they implement their pensions provision, according to Carol Dempsey reward partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Dempsey says: “The cost of providing pensions is growing and the main ways to avoid a burden of future taxpayers include: lower…

A tribunal today reserved judgment in the case of a BBC Countryfile presenter who claims she was a victim of age and sex discrimination when she was rejected for a role on the prime time version of the show.Miriam O’Reilly, 53, was ruled out in “one sentence” by former BBC One controller Jay Hunt from…

Madonna thinks judging someone by their age is ‘bullshit’. The 56-year-old Queen of Pop has been condemned by a few critics for working like she does, with some attempting to discredit her as someone too old to be a sexy star. But Madonna is convinced people are fabulous in all epochs of their lives and…

Will age discrimination play a more prominent role in the future workplace? It may, depending on the outcome of a lawsuit against Google that will now go to trial.  According to a Wall Street Journal report, the California Supreme Court has ruled that an age discrimination lawsuit filed against the search giant should proceed to…

A used car salesman has taken legal action after claiming he was thrown on the scrapheap by bosses who felt he was too old – at 52. Gary Hawkins, from Sutton Coldfield, was told his career at a dealership was over because of his advanced years, an employment tribunal heard. He is now seeking compensation for…

Cambridge University has introduced a compulsory retirement age of 67 for its academics to promote “intergenerational fairness” and enable career progression, PM has learned.Academics at the university voted in favour of an Employer Justified Retirement Age (EJRA) for themselves last week after an internal consultation had concluded.  The move, which was prompted by the abolition…

When Stephen Clee ran out for Treorchy Seconds last year he thought he had proved age doesn’t matter. The 55-year-old came to the rescue of his local rugby club when one of its players was forced to sit out the second half through injury. But now Mr Clee is at the centre of an age…

The names of around 30 serial claimants has been collated by Essex lawyer Gordon Turner following an extensive trawl of employment tribunal hearings and details of cases provided by fellow solicitors. One man alone is believed to have been involved in 150 cases of alleged discrimination and boasted that he had received many settlements in…

It appears that ageism may be responsible for the rise in the number of redundancies and the difficulties faced by older Singaporeans trying to re-enter the workforce (“Career switch hardest for PMETs re-entering the workforce”; May 14, online). However, Singapore’s unemployment numbers continue to be relatively low. Older professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) will…