PRESS INFORMATION ________________________________________________

More must be done to tackle age barriers in employment, according to a report published by Eurolink Age today. The European-wide findings will be officially launched at a conference in Enschede, in the Netherlands on 6 June 1997.

The study, Public Policy Options to Assist Older Workers, is the first to analyse the opinions of key national experts and policy makers, including government ministers, from seven EU countries on public policies for older workers. It follows an earlier report which found evidence of widespread discrimination against older workers. In countries where there is an active political debate about age discrimination, th~re is overall support for the introduction of anti-age discrimination legislation. In particular, experts in the Netherlands, UI( and France support a ban on age limits in job advertisements.

In France, they support proper enforcement of the existing, but little used, law banning age limits in recruitment; as well as its extension to the public sector. Almost all countries surveyed agreed on the need for education and awareness campaigns with employers and others on the value of, and potential that, older workers can bring to the workplace. The UI( has taken the lead in this area, and other countries are set to follow. In addition, there is widespread agreement that improved training opportunities are badly needed for both older employees at work and for older job seekers.

The report also underlines the need for: · New policies to help older workers and job-seekers gain better employment opportunities. · More factual information and analysis of the situation of older workers to inform the policy debate. · Support for a European code of good practice at national and European level. · Evaluation of the effectiveness of existing public policy and dissemination of these results among policy-makers at all levels.

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