'Best before' date removed

Although the government has already agreed to look at age discrimination in the workplace by 2006, for John Rutherford and Helen McKenna this was not soon enough and both are now involved in test cases to challenge the government’s mandatory retirement age.

Success for John Rutherford and Helen McKenna would mean that the government would have to make it harder to discriminate on the basis of age sooner rather than later. Which would be a huge boost for mature students looking for graduate jobs as it would effectively remove their ‘best-before’ date and could promote more diverse recruitment practices. A welcome move for mature students who in a recent survey of their opinions stated that a massive 68% believed they had worse employment prospects than younger students did.

It is known that some companies refuse to consider applications from mature students and graduates for their training schemes. Preconceptions remain rife that anyone over 40 (or sometimes a lot younger) cannot adopt new ways of working, or that older employees cannot accept younger managers. Meanwhile 7% of the 16-24 age were found in a survey last year to believe they have been refused work because of their youth. By 2006, if not before, employers are going to have to rethink these old habits.

Related topics:

• Your background issues
• More mature students