Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
Gorgie Dalry Gazette (Age Discrimation)
In October the government will introduce Age Discrimination legislation. This new law will help stop people being denied jobs or harassed because of their age, and in most cases, workers of all ages will have an equal chance of training and promotion.
Since 1997 we’ve created one of the most successful labour markets in the world with more people in work than ever before and the highest employment rate amongst the most developed countries. The foundation for this success has been a strong and stable economy.
Work is the best route out of poverty and prevents people from falling into poverty in the future. So we’ve made sure there are more jobs, it pays to work and that people get the help they need to find a job. Crucially we’ve improved the quality of work by establishing decent minimum standards in the workplace and tackled unfairness by addressing discrimination and barriers to progression.
Under the new Age Discrimination law it will be unlawful on the grounds of your age to decide not to employ you, to dismiss you, to refuse to provide you with training, to deny you promotion, to give you adverse terms and conditions, to retire you before your usual retirement age or to retire you before the default retirement age of 65 without an objective justification.
We’re also continuing to deliver more family friendly measures. Next April, the Work and Families Bill will increase maternity leave to nine months. That means every working mother will be guaranteed £1,400 extra maternity pay. The Bill will also give new rights to fathers to take a further 26 weeks parental leave. And since 1997 a lot has been done to improve the lives of young families. We’ve increased Maternity Pay from £55 to £106 per week and extended maternity leave from 16 to 26 weeks. Fathers are entitled to paid leave for the first time. Part time workers now have the same rights as full time workers. Child Benefit is now £17.45 per week, for the eldest child, rising from £11.05 in 1996 and the Child Trust Fund gives every new-born child a nest egg of £250.
Time off work is an important part of work/life balance and helps reduce stress. So we’ll introduce legislation to make paid bank holidays additional to the annual holiday entitlement. This will help up to 2 million people, often the lowest paid, who do not get this at the moment.
It’s vital that we continue to help as many people as possible into work and to help families balance their work and family lives. No one should be left behind and we’re doing all we can to make sure that no-one is.
