Australia: Employers Must Address Health and Safety Issues with Aging Workers

Speaking at the 2006 Sydney Safety Show, Product Development Manager, CGU Safety and Risk Services, Angela Micic told listeners that as Australia faces a growing number of older people working and remaining in the workforce, employers must address the OHS problems this trend presents and implement risk management strategies.

A number of prevention strategies are available to employees to minimise risk associated with the ageing workforce in Australia. Risk management strategies will vary depending on jurisdictional occupational health and safety and workers compensation requirements in conjunction with workplace and workplace requirements. Employers need to ensure that work organisation and job design is suitable for all workers, with attention to older workers. The implementation of some of the preventative strategies may lead to improvements in OHS, reduction in injuries and claims and ultimately an increase in productivity and retention.

Source: Ferret.com "OHS issues facing an ageing population" (Decenber 20, 2006)

Commentary: Age-Adjusted Earnings for Corporations?

Matt Miller suggests in a commentary on American Public Media's Marketplace that to get business' attention on health-care and pension issues, the Democratic Congress should require separate income statements that show what earnings would be if companies had average-aged workers.

These days, the drag on corporations of decent healthcare and pension coverage for an aging American workforce is real. But the idea that a firm's success could depend so much on the youth of its workers is also crazy.

A sane nation would look at how to separate business performance from some social sense of what makes for decent health and pension coverage for every citizen.

Source: Marketplace
"Age-adjusted earnings reports" (December 19, 2006)

California: State Agriculture Must Develop Stable Workforce

Adressing a general session of the California Farm Bureau Federation's Annual Meeting, Victoria Bradshaw, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, told the federation that one of the major challenges that lies ahead in the area of labor is developing a stable agricultural workforce in California and that, unless California's farmers and ranchers do not build careers and vocations in agriculture, they will be left with an aging workforce and not a replenishing workforce.

"Supply has been a major challenge in the last couple of years. One of the reasons agriculture is having a problem is not any different than a lot of other industries," Bradshaw said. "For agriculture though there is a major competitor out there and that is the expanding construction industry. It is growing at a very rapid pace, some in the infrastructure, some in residential housing, but there is a huge demand for labor and they are offering higher wages and long-term employment."

Another challenge she highlighted is training people to work in agriculture. Unless California's farmers and ranchers do not build careers and vocations in agriculture, Bradshaw said, they will be left with an aging workforce and not a replenishing workforce.

Source: California Farm Bureau Federation News Release (December 13, 2006)

Book: Analysis of Aging Workforce and Strategic Concepts for Enterprises to Survive

Research and Markets has announced the addition of "Managing the Aging Workforce: Challenges and Solutions" to their offerings. Co-authored by Marius Leibold, Professor in Strategy at Stellenbosch University, Nitin Nohria, Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean and Director of Faculty Development at the Harvard Business School, and Sven C. Veolpel, Director of the research group WISE, the book presents an analysis of the present and upcoming situation, and an introduction into the strategic concepts enterprises will need to survive in aging societies.

For companies thus, a number of challenges arise that have to be overcome fast and continuously. The main topics in this field will be new strategies in leadership, new concepts in health management, new ways in knowledge management and learning, as well as new models how to drive ideas for diversity and innovation.

On the one hand, enterprises therefore will have to invest in their aging employees for supporting their talents, helping them to learn and keeping them in the company. On the other, they will have to increase productivity, keep on searching for new products, and integrate experts from abroad. This has to be combined with new ways of strategies and HR management.

"Managing the Aging Workforce: Challenges and Solutions" will be available in the United States in early February. The table of contents is available online.

Source: Research and Markets News Release (December 13, 2006)

FAA Contemplates Raising Mandatory Retirement Age for Pilots, Wall St. Journal Reports

According to an article by Andy Pasztor for the Wall St. Journal, the Federal Aviation Administration, moving away from its longstanding policy that airline pilots must retire at age 60, wants to let them work in the cockpit as many as five years longer. Pasztor reports that after repeatedly opposing similar efforts to change the rules, some U.S. airlines and pilots groups are beginning to soften their stances.

The FAA's apparent change of heart is influenced by the current tight market globally for pilots as well as the lack of recent scientific data demonstrating any clear-cut erosion of safety from extending the careers of pilots, according to one person familiar with the matter. In addition, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concluded the 60-year age limit is discriminatory.

In addition, Pasztor writes that keeping the age limit at 60 is becoming more difficult to defend, following a move by the International Civil Aviation Organization to raise retirement ages at airlines world-wide. A spokeswoman for FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said the industry can "expect a decision relatively soon." However, if a proposal is made, finalizing new regulations could take 18 months or more.

Source: Wall St. Journal "FAA Set to Raise Retirement Age For Pilots to 65" (December 11, 2006 (subscription required)

Massachusetts Facing Shrinkage of Prime Working Age Populaton

A study released by the Massachusetts Institute of a New Commonwealth (MassINC) and the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University has found that the Massachusetts labor force declined by 1.7% from 2003 to 2005 while the national labor force expanded by 3.1% and that most of those who left the labor force were men in two age groups--16- to 24-year-olds and 35- to 54-year-olds.

Thus, according to the study--“Mass Economy: the Labor Supply and Our Economic Future”--one fo the three critical factors for growth in the economy will be incorporating more older workers into the workforce. The combination of the aging of the baby boom generation the declining number of workers in what is considered the “prime working age years” (25-54 years old) will have the result that, in particular between 2010 and 2015, the graying of the Massachusetts labor force will accelerate further.

Source: MassInc and Center for Labor Market Studies Research Report (December 2006)

Other Sources: The Enterprise "Shrinking labor force threatens region" (December 10, 2006); Worcester Telegram "Report says Massachusetts is losing workers" (December 10, 2006)

Halogen Software Introduces Succession Planning Software

In introducing a new version of its Halogen Employee Performance Management Suite, Halogen Software announced that Halogen EPM Suite 8.0 includes Halogen eSuccession™--a succession planning tool based on talent pools. Pointing out that, as millions of baby boomers approach retirement, succession planning is becoming an increasingly urgent business issue, Halogen suggests that eSuccession allows managers to understand their workforce's potential and areas of retention risk, proactively develop employee performance and fulfill succession requirements with the right candidates from talent pools of people ready to meet the task head on.

"The aging workforce is a concern for all organizations. Our goal is to develop the talent of our employees and to prepare them for advancement." said Debbie Clark, senior HR generalist with Oil States International. "Halogen eSuccession is a means to get everybody, from the top down, involved in the process of planning for our organization's future."

Source: Halogen Software Inc. News Release (December 11, 2006)

United Kingdom: Participation in Defined Benefit Schemes Falls, Retirement Age Rises

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that membership of employer-sponsored defined benefit pension schemes fell from 39% 35% of employees between 2004 and 2005--down from 46% in 1997, when recordkeeping began. Membership of defined contribution schemes increased from 10% to 15% of the working-age population between 1997 and 2005, driven by increases in membership of group personal and stakeholder pensions.

The ONS publication Pension Trends has been updated to reflect this data. In addition, it shows that the average age at which male and female workers withdraw from the labour force is rising. In 2006, it was 64.2 years for men, the highest level since 1984, when data first became available. The average age for women was 61.8 years, the second-highest
on record.

In addition, employment rates of older men and women rose in spring 2006 to the highest levels since comparable records began in 1984. For men aged from 50 to under 65, the employment rate was 72.6% and for women aged from 50 to under 60, it was 67.9%. For men over that state pension age, the employment rate was 9.6% and for women, 11.1%.

Source: National Statistices News Release (Decenber 5, 2006)

Survey: Alabama Firms Not Prepared for Retirement

According to a survey of 348 Alabama employers conducted for the AARP, while 95% percent say it is no less than “very important” for their organization to retain skilled employees, only 11% report having taken actions to prepare for the retirement of baby boom workers.

The report--Alabama Survey of Employers’ Practices for Managing An Aging Workforce--found that in order to accommodate workers interested in working beyond normal retirement age, employers were were planning or considering: (1) enabling employees to ease into retirement by reducing their work schedules (49%); (2) hiring retired employees (47%); (3) providing part-time work arrangements without continuation of benefits (45%); and (4) upgrading training (43%).

Source: AARP Policy & Research Research Report (August 2006)

Other Sources: The Huntsville Times "Too few firms in state are planning for retirement" (December 3, 2006); The Montgomery Advertiser Survey: Firms not ready for boomers' exit (December 5, 2006); The Birmingham News "Baby boomers reaching point of mass retirement" (December 1, 2006)

United Kingdom: Companies Urged To Recruit Older Workers

Taleo, a provider of on demand talent management solutions, and The Age and Employment Network (TAEN) have jointly published a white paper--"Tapping into the Older Worker Talent Pool”--that highlights the opportunity for companies to address the looming skills crisis by recruiting older workers, and provides step by step advice on how companies can execute this strategy.

Despite the the demographic trends in the UK with an ageing workforce that is causing a general shortage of skills, many organisations retain significant biases and misconceptions about recruiting older workers. According to the white paper, "practical recruitment strategies that take advantage of the growing talent pool of older workers will therefore be increasingly critical in creating a competitive workforce in the UK." Specifiically, TAEN and Taleo Research recommend that employers:

• Consider where you are advertising your job opportunities
• Word your job opportunities carefully
• Capture candidate data on compliant, electronic application forms
• Drive the selection process based on skills
• Consider re-skilling or up-skilling new or existing employees

Source: Taleo Press Release (November 30, 2006)

Role of Employers in Discussing Retirement Options with Employees

In an article in Employee Benefit News, Lydell C. Bridgeford discusses the pros and cons about how employers talk about retirement education programs, especially ones addressing the financial pros and cons to working past age 62 to 67. While older workers thinking about working past the required retirement age must balance the rewards with the penalties and need information about the costs and benefits, there is a real question about whether employers should become more active in offering education programs on delayed retirement.

[John] Young [ executive vice president of sales and marketing at Michigan-based Freedom One Financial Group] observes that employers tend to leave retirement financial education up to outside professionals whom workers have already chosen, or a potential service provider of their 401(k) program that includes retirement education planning as part of the basic service.

However, it can be in the employer's interest to help with the education, especailly as younger workers become relatively more scarce and employers increasingly want to retain older workers.

Source: Employee Benefit News "Educating workers about delayed retirement" (November 2006)

Manufacturing: Coping with Replacing Older Workers in Jobs Younger Workers Don't Want

An article in Manufacturing US focuses on how young people are steering clear of manufacturing just at the time that manufacturers are experiencing a moderate to severe shortage of skilled production employees, including machinists, distributors and technicians. One problem may be an image one:

“Dirty, dark, dangerous, and dull,” says Director of Operations Leo Reddy of the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC). MSSC is the nationwide, industry-led organization focused on the core knowledge and skills needed by US production workers. “There’s definitely a concern among educators in attracting young people into manufacturing, a negative perception we have to improve,” says Reddy.

Thus, many manufacturers try to appeal to younger workers by focusing on the "cool" products they produce or the tools that they use to produce them. "If all else fails, then manufacturers appeal to the rewards of a steady career in manufacturing." MSSC and the National Association of Manufacturers are trying close the employment gap and in September 2006 launched the U.S.’s first effort to establish nationally-recognized credentials for qualified manufacturing production workers.

Source: Manufacturing US "Dirty, dark, dangerous, and dull" (November 2006)

Canada: Ontario's Ban on Mandatory Retirement Begins December 12, 2006

Ontario's "Ending Mandatory Retirement Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005", which was enacted by the legislative assembly in December 2005, takes effect on December 12, 2006. When the legislation takes effect, it will amend the Ontario Human Rights Code to protect people aged 65 and over from age discrimination for most employment purposes.

The Ministry of Labour has updated its FAQ: Mandatory Retirement and also maintains a Mandatory Retirement website.

Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour News Release (November 14, 2006)

Other Sources: Hamilton Spectator "Mandatory retirement soon to be obsolete" (November 28, 2006)

Scientific Study Finds 76% of Workers Older than 60 Are Overweight or Obese

According to research conducted by Alberto Cordero of the University of Navarra School of Medicine, “76% of workers older than 60 years of age are overweight or obese. However, less than one third of those 40 years of age and younger suffer these health issues.”

The research group MESYAS (Metabolic Syndrome in Active Subjects), conducted a study of 19,041 active workers throughout Spain. Through these subjects, the project analyzed the incidence of metabolic syndrome, in conjunction with cardiovascular risk factors which tend to appear in the same individual, in order to obtain a common related physiopathology.

Cordero's research has been published in the American Journal of Hypertension, the Revista Espanola de Cardiología, and Medicina Clinica.

Source: University of Navarra News Release (November 22, 2006)

New Zealand: New Data Shows Growth of Jobs, Earnings for Older Workers

Employees aged 65 years and over showed the greatest increase in both job growth and earnings over the five-year period 2000-2005, according to statistics released by Statistics New Zealand from Linked Employer-Employee Data (LEED) from September 2005. Although those employees had one of the lowest levels of earnings, they had the highest increase in earnings--39.2% (from $4,750 to $6,610)--and the highest rate of job growth--109.4%.

The Figures also show a rise in job growth of 48.3% for those aged 55–59 years and 67.7% for those aged 60–64 years. The 15 to 19-year age group was associated with the second largest growth rate in earnings (26.8%)--which may have been influenced by annual increases in minimum youth wage rates, while the 55 to 59-year age group followed with the third largest growth rate in earnings (23.7%).

Source: Statistics New Zealand Media Release (November 27, 2006)

United Kingdom: Delivering Healthier, Safer Workplaces for All Ages

Over one third (36.5%) of UK workers believe they will be unable to do their job at 60, according to the latest statistics, revealed in Hazards Magazine. The report--'Going strong'--shows that the great majority of employees have no significant health impediments to prevent them working up to 65, or beyond if they wish, yet poor health is the most common reason why people over 50 leave a job, with only half retiring early by choice. Hazards calls on employers to stop using bogus health and safety excuses to get rid of, or not employ older people, and start helping keep the ageing UK population in work and off benefits.

A special feature on older workers by editor Rory O’Neill spells out the measures necessary to deliver healthier workplaces for all, regardless of age. Among other things, the article points out that improving health and longevity mean the great majority of workers have no significant health impediments to prevent work up to the age of 65 and for many, where they wish, beyond, and that workplace health and safety considerations are not a valid reason to prevent older workers continuing in work.

Age management strategies must target “ageing” rather than just “older” workers. Planning occupational health interventions and devising job redesign or alternative work in good time, with policies looking at workers in the 45+ age group, will provide greater scope for creating suitable and healthy work transitions. Career structures should allow a shift to more suitable work, where necessary or desirable.

Among the topics explored in detail are:

• workplace health, citing findings that “older workers do not have more accidents in the workplace.”
• older women, older workers, which notes that the impact of work on the health and employability of older women workers is particularly neglected, so that strategies must be both age and gender sensitive to ensuring the “work ability” of older women workers.
• safety rep's checklist

In addition, the article provides links to sources and websites pertaining to the issues discussed.

Sources: Hazards Magazine "Not dead yet" (No. 96, October-December, 2006); Trade Union Congress Press Release (November 24, 2006)

United Kingdom: Age Legislation Not Ending Ageist Attitudes

Findings from the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), produced by Cranfield School of Management, suggest that organizations have a long way to go to eliminate age discrimination at work and become fully compliant with the recent UK legislation. Specifically, while 89% of organizations claim to have introduced or changed their policies and practices to comply with the legislation which came into effect on October 1, 24% do not have an age discrimination policy and only 54% provide training to managers with regard to age discrimination. Furthermore, one in seven of the responding HR managers admitted to being aware of current discriminatory policies and practices within their organization.

Commenting on the findings Dr Emma Parry, Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management, said:

"These results give particular cause for concern as the respondents are HR managers, who should be responsible for championing the elimination of age discrimination within organisations. The results also demonstrate that the creation of policies regarding age discrimination is not enough. Training and education programmes are needed in order to address these attitudes and the discrimination that is commonly associated with them."

Source: Cranfield University School of Management Press Release (November 21, 2006)

Rhode Island: Focus on Aging Workforce in Manufacturing

As part of a Focus issue on baby boomers, the Providence Business News published two articles by on workforce and the aging. The first, by Natalie Myers, focuses on manufacturing companies trying to fill the holes created by today’s retirees. The second, by Nicole Dionne, focuses on how the employment needs of the baby boom cohort are being taken very seriously in the workplace.

According to Myers, in manufacturing, it takes a substantial amount of time to teach the skills the retirees have spent 10 to 20 years learning themselves. She focused on one company--Handy & Harman--where about 30% of the workers are older than 55 and the average age is 47. She reports that Handy & Harman invests heavily in its on-the-job training program and, to help supplement training costs, seeks grants from state and federally funded organizations such as the Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island. In addition, she reports that companies have to balance the need for new trainees with the need to implement lean manufacturing principles, to cut production costs and stay competitive.

According to Dionne, 23% of Rhode Island’s work force is 55 and older.

“This is a group that is a great resource, particularly now,” said Kathy Partington, chief of work force development for the R.I. Department of Labor and Training. “They have a lot of skills that can be transferred to different jobs."

The biggest barriers faced by older workers are salaries and the perception of employers who feel that they should get younger workers with more cutting-edge skills. In order to counter those barriers, the state training department works to get employers to see the value of older employees.

Source: Providence Business News "Factories toil to replace retirees" and "Older workers offer employers challenges, rewards" (November 18, 2006)

Japan: Companies Starting To Build Experience Hiring Older Workers Part-Time

An article in Kyodo News describes how one company is paying keener attention as a workforce and customer to baby boomers, whose massive retirement will begin next year. Specifically, Lawson, Inc. "plans to increase its number of middle-aged and elderly part-timers to 20 percent of such workers, now numbering about 150,000, within several years because it believes seniors are more likely to enter its outlets if there are shop employees of the same generation."

However, other companies lack experience in employing the middle-aged and elderly. "Masaru Okamura, a director of Tokyo-based Ten Allied Co. which operates Japanese-style pubs, said, 'Young shop managers don't have experience in supervising elderly people and don't know appropriate language to be used for them.' The company is now actively seeking older workers by offering bonuses, but creation of a workplace environment to truly bring out their abilities is still a work in progress."

Source: Kyodo News "Conflict between young and old over part-time jobs seen possible" (October 26, 2006)

Australia: Health Research Finds Older Workers More Productive

According to research conducted by Australian Health Management, workers aged 55 or above are more productive than under-35s because they suffer less depression and headaches, and have no childcare problems. While the younger group had an average 19% reduction in productivity due to childcare responsibilities, allergies, depression, headaches, and asthma, workers aged 55 or more showed reduced productivity of only 13%.

Australian Health Management called for health funds and employers to pay greater attention to the value of reducing health risk factors such as weight, stress and smoking. As reported by Matthew Franklin:

The company produced dramatic figures showing that after it enrolled nearly 4000 of its members in a six-month health program, the average claim in the subsequent six months tumbled from $3017 to $1761.

"You can't stop people ageing," said AHM chief executive Dan Hook. "But you can get people to address their risks ... Risk factors are the sleeper in the health debate."

Source: The Australian "Older workers more productive" (November 14, 2006)