Thursday 15 June 2017
The Committee for Employment & Social Security has released a consultation on its proposals for the Longer Working Lives project and would welcome views from the public on whether key issues are being addressed.
The Longer Working Lives project, which is aiming to report back to the States before the end of the year, is investigating what could be done to support people to stay in work up to or past State Pension Age.
Deputy Shane Langlois, vice-President of the Committee, said:
'The workforce is ageing and we as an island need to adapt. Not only do we have older people in the population than in previous years but the State Pension Age is increasing to reflect rises in life expectancy. We have also seen more people choosing to work up to or past State Pension Age in recent years. This will mean that we need to make sure that people in their 60s are supported to work in coming years if they choose to do so. So, how can we support older workers who wish or need to work?'
The Committee has released proposals for consultation and invited comments. Islanders can find the consultation at gov.gg/longerworkinglives.
Deputy Langlois said:
'People in their 50s, 60s and beyond face particular challenges. These can include the need to support older family members or grandchildren; difficulties working with health conditions and disabilities; encountering negative attitudes about their age; and challenges associated with needing to change career in later life. Nothing has been decided yet but we want your views on our proposals before we report back to the States. Our proposals include:
- Continuing to develop the Island's Occupational Health and Wellbeing to support people at work with health conditions and disabilities and to prevent people from developing work related illness or injury in the first place
- Promoting flexible working and part time work options
- Consulting on the possibility of introducing age discrimination legislation
- Providing information and advice to support people to undertake 'mid-life reviews' to think through where they are with their career, health and finances
- Working with businesses to help them to take action by providing information on why adapting to an ageing workforce is important and by helping businesses to share good practice around supporting older workers
'We also recognise that some people feel that the State Pension Age increase particularly affects them because of the type of work that they do and we will review whether there is a way to adjust pensions or benefits to mitigate the financial impact on the individuals who would be most affected by changes.
'We hope to find out what you think of these suggestions and whether you think they will meet people's needs in years to come.'
You can fill out the consultation via: www.gov.gg/longerworkinglives or follow the link in 'useful pages' on this page.
For more information email: longerworkinglives@gov.gg or call 01481 732546.
