Old age should not be a barrier to work - deputy

Changes to Guernsey's anti-discrimination law could see greater protections for people who wish to work beyond retirement age, a senior politician has said.

A public consultation seeking views on age discrimination is set to end this month and it is hoped it will offer islanders greater legal protections going forward.

President of the Committee for Employment & Social Security (EES) Deputy Peter Roffey said he hopes improvements to the law will help end ageist attitudes towards the employability of older workers.

He said: "I think there's a degree of pressure because of the way traditionally society works, to step down from the work place sometimes before people are ready to do so."

He said: "Not only is that unfair on the individual but it is actually damaging our economy, because we know we have a shortage of labour and skills and an ageing population.

"So, we should be doing everything we can to facilitate and help people who want to continue working to do so."

The consultation on age follows the introduction of anti-discrimination law in 2023, which made it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of disability, carer status, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.

The Committee for Employment and Social Security (ESS) will consider the responses from organisations and individuals and finalise policy proposals when the consultation closes on September 30.

A policy letter of its final proposal is due to go before the States before the end of the term of government in June 2025.

The Employment and Equal Opportunities Service (EEOS), which provides dispute resolution services to the public, said the consultation was positive step towards the island matching discrimination provisions already available in neighbouring jurisdictions.

EEOS Director Stephen Glencross said he encouraged all islanders to take part in the consultation exercise before it concludes.

He said: "We welcome any proposals for legislation that will provide protection for people living in Guernsey from discrimination and age discrimination is no exception."

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