Mature workers news round up – April 2021

Connecticut lawmakers approve age discrimination bill that would block employers from asking job candidates their date of birth, graduation years

The bipartisan measure was passed unanimously. “It’s extremely important because we are in Connecticut, and we have the sixth-oldest workforce in the nation,” Sen. Derek Slap, a West Hartford Democrat, said on the Senate floor. “When I talk about older workers, anyone age 40 or over is in a protected class. … We want our older workers to get a fair shake.”  – Hartford Courant, 14 April 2021

15 Signs Your Employer Wants You To Retire

If you’re at or nearing retirement age, it’s possible your boss wants you to retire, but you just haven’t gotten the memo. Some employers take a direct approach when encouraging workers to start their golden years, while others use more understated tactics.  – Yahoo Finance, 12 April 2021

Study Calls for Strengthening Age Discrimination Laws (USA)

A study done for the Brookings Institution calls for strengthening age discrimination laws in light of the trend toward longer working careers, an issue it said is especially important for older workers who work—or want to—in a “bridge” type job between retiring from their main occupation and fully retiring.  – FED Week, 8 April 2021

Ageist Attacks Against President Biden Reinforce Outdated Stereotypes—and Hurt Younger People, Too

When President Joe Biden tripped on the stairs up to Air Force One on March 19, the incident immediately touched off a flurry of mockery. Age has long been a powerful political weapon, and Biden has by no means been the sole target. But experts say age-based attacks against Biden and others demonstrate how common ageist stereotypes are in American culture—to everyone’s detriment.  – Time, 7 April 2021

Deloitte fights subpoenas over partner retirements

Deloitte is fighting subpoenas that would force it to produce all its retirement discussions with partners once they reach 62 years old as part of a landmark legal challenge to its age-specific retirement policy.  – Australian Financial Review, 7 April 2021

A powerful way to keep retirees out of poverty is to tackle this workplace problem (USA)

A recent study by ProPublica and the Urban Institute found that as many as half of the 40 million working adults over age 50 will, at some point, be jettisoned from their jobs (fired outright) or forced to resign (jumping before they’re pushed).

And once pushed out, only 10% of these displaced older workers ever find replacement jobs with pay commensurate with the career jobs they left.   – Market Watch 6 April 2021

Redundancies soar among over-50s with further job losses expected, report warns (UK)

The number of older workers made redundant almost tripled to 107,000 between November and January. Redundancies among the over-50s have soared in the past year, and could rise even further once employers are required to contribute more towards the pay of furloughed staff, a report has warned.  – The Independent, 5 April 2021

The Power of Proximity: Co-Locating Childcare and Eldercare Programs (USA)

Intergenerational shared sites that bring childcare and eldercare under the same roof help both generations thrive, and we need to build more of them.  – Stanford Social Innovation Review, 5 April 2021

KPMG shakes up retirement age policy

KPMG announced changes to its partnership agreement on Wednesday that will see its expected retirement age of 58 scrapped.

KPMG Australia Chairman Alison Kitchen said she was pleased to see support for the board’s recommendations amid changing ideas and expectations.

“The Board was explicit that we needed to change,” she said. “The shape of the partnership is changing, with many partners joining from outside the firm, or from within but later in their careers.”  – Accountants Daily, 1 April 2021