Midlands development agency pushes on with campaign

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New age discrimination legislation planned for an October 1st launch has inspired a campaign spearheaded by the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA).

The “Manage Discrimination” initiative, funded by the EMDA, has been designed to prepare and inform small-to-medium sized employers in the region on issues surrounding age discrimination, in advance of new legislation being introduced later on in the year.

“It is essential that employers are aware of the legislation as soon as possible so that they can prepare for the impact that it could have on their business”, explains campaign manager Deborah Fraser. ” We will continue to help the East Midlands to lead the way in successfully introducing the legislation to small-to-medium employers, and have a dedicated programme of work in place which will continue to run in the lead up to, and beyond 1st October”.

Launched in March, the campaign began with a series of calendar events across the East Midlands, as part of the agency’s Regional Economic Strategy (RES); RES’s are unique to the country’s Regional Development Agencies (RDA’s), as they outline and propose future recommendations and policy to help propel each region’s economic prosperity and to reduce the disparity between regions.

And as part of the East Midland’s strategy launched last month, entitled “A Flourishing Region”, a key tenet of responsibility was highlighted as equality; achievable, rather sensibly, through cohesive communities, economic renewal and economic inclusion.

According to guidelines, the new legislation will effectively prohibit recruitment, training and promotion based on an employee’s age, unless it can be partially justified. All employers, as well as training providers, will be affected.

Vijay Pattni.

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