At the last count, there were more than seven million people over 50 in work, and close to a million more looking for work. If this includes you, or a friend, "Your Rights: Working after 50" is here to tell you everything you need to know to get the most out of work after the age of 50. This book is the easy way to inform yourself quickly and accurately of your legal rights and employment options so you can not only, react with confidence to everything work can throw at you, but also take control of your future. It provides essential advice on everything from planning your retirement to embarking on a complete career change. A wide variety of situations are covered from self-employment to updating your skills and remaining competitive; from pensions to dispute resolution and age discrimination. There is also plenty of advice for those who are out of work and looking for employment, training and support services, benefits, writing CVs and attending interviews. This book answers all the key questions that you might need to ask yourself about working and seeking work. Questions like: What are your employment rights? Are you protected from age discrimination? How do you enforce your rights? What are the best options for increasing your pension income for when you retire? What happens if you are out of work and want a job? Where can you get help and brush up your skills? And what are the best options for leaving work on your terms?

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction... viii 1. Age Discrimination and the Law . . 1 What is discrimination? ... 3 Justifying discrimination... 4 Harassment... 6 Victimisation... 7 Retirement and the law... 8 Exceptions to the rule... 9 Upper age limits... 13 Training and education... 13 Proving age discrimination... 15 Commission for Equality and Human Rights... 15 2. Your Rights at Work... 17 Statutory and contractual rights ... 17 Employment status... 19 Discrimination... 21 Terms and conditions of employment... 30 Bullying... 36 3. Leaving Work Against Your Wishes... 39 Retirement against your wishes ... 39 Unfair dismissal ... 48 Redundancy... 55 4. Resolving Disputes ... 63 Attempting to reach an informal solution... 64 Grievance procedure... 67 Mediation ... 70 Compromise agreements... 70 5. Employment Tribunals... 73 What could you gain from a tribunal claim? ... 73 Time limits ... 76 How to start a tribunal claim... 77 Questionnaire procedure... 82 Bringing a claim... 84 The ACAS conciliation service... 86 The tribunal... 89 6. Looking for Work... 93 Knowing where to look... 94 Applying for jobs ... 98 Interviews... 103 Age discrimination in recruitment ... 106 7. Support When You're Out of Work ... 109 Jobcentre Plus support ... 110 Basic support... 111 The New Deal... 112 Work Trial and Employment on Trial... 114 Programme Centres... 114 Work Based Learning for Adults ... 115 Help for people receiving health-related benefits... 115 Regional variations... 120 8. Skills and Qualifications... 121 Working out your options... 121 Choosing a course... 124 Types of course... 125 Where to learn... 131 Money - tuition and living costs... 135 9. Self-employment... 143 Advantages of self-employment... 143 Disadvantages of self-employment... 144 Advice and support... 144 Getting started... 146 What type of business?... 146 Financing the business ... 149 Business plan ... 149 10. Volunteering ... 153 Money and benefits... 155 Your rights as a volunteer... 156 How to find volunteering opportunities ... 158 Volunteering overseas... 1 Planning for Retirement... 163 The transition towards retirement... 164 Financial planning for retirement... 169 12. Money and Work... 177 Earnings ... 177 Income tax and National Insurance... 178 Benefits and tax credits while in work... 184 Money while you're looking for work... 188 13. Pensions... 191 The state pension... 191 Pensions provided by your employer... 198 Deciding whether to join a pension scheme... 203 Drawing an occupational pension... 207 The new age discrimination law and pension changes... 211 14. Health and Working... 213 The Disability Discrimination Act... 214 Health, safety and well-being at work ... 220 Health-related dismissal and retirement... 223 Sick pay... 226 Income options for long-term sickness... 228 What to do after stopping work ... 233 Returning to work... 234 15. Caring and Family ... 237 Flexible working for people caring for adults... 238 Time off for emergencies ... 241 Other leave ... 242 Income... 242 Support for caring... 243 Giving up work to care... 245 DTI Age Discrimination Questionnaire ... 246 Glossary ... 251 List of useful organisations... 256 Index... 263 About Age Concern ... 276

Author Biography

Andrew Harrop is Head of Policy at Age Concern England, specialising in employment and age equality. He represents ACE on the DTI's Age Advisory Group on the forthcoming age discrimination legislation, and on the Equality and Diversity Forum, which brings together national equality and human rights organisations. He is co-author of Age Discrimination (Legal Action Group, 2006), a book aimed at advisers and lawyers. Prior to joining ACE, Andrew was a researcher at the New Policy Institute. He lives in south London. Susie Munro is an information specialist at Age Concern England, specialising in employment and education. She is responsible for writing and updating the Age Concern factsheets and information sheets in these areas, which can be obtained by visiting the website at www.ageconcern.org.uk. She has provided training for advisers on the new age discrimination law and has written widely on the subject. Before joining Age Concern England, Susie worked as a solicitor in private practice in Birmingham, specialising in employment law. She lives in Brighton.