Department of Human Affairs Ministry of Youth, Families & Sports

Public ConsultationNovember, 2012

Human Rights Protection Against Discrimination on the Basis of AGE

“Discrimination due to age is one of the greatest tragedies of modern life . The desire to work and be useful is what makes life worth living, and to

be told your efforts are not needed because you are the wrong age is a crime.” Johnny Ball

Agenda Overview of the Issue Review of Previous Efforts Statistics Jurisdictional Review Potential Benefits of Age Legislation Feedback from Public Consultation What are the implications ? Q & A

Public Consultations held to-date • Bermuda Chamber Of

Commerce • Ace Insurance• Argus• BF & M• BIU• Prisons• Police• KEMH• Freisenbruch-Meyer Group• HSBC• Public Consultation• Age Concern• Bermuda College

• Pension Commission• National Office for Seniors• Social Insurance• Labour and Training• Bermuda Fire Service• BELCO• Bermuda Human Resources

Association• Bermuda College Senior• Patterson-Partners• Labour Force Survey• BPSU

Key Terms Discrimination: refers to the act of treating

someone less favorably than others, or to deliberately treat a person differently than others on the basis of, for example, their racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, or age, to name a few.

Ageism: refers to two concepts: a socially constructed way of thinking about older persons based on negative attitudes and stereotypes about ageing and a tendency to structure society based on an assumption that everyone is young, thereby failing to respond appropriately to the real needs of older persons.

Timeline

Landmark Case on AGE DiscriminationDr. McPhee

Human Rights Act 1981

Amendment to the Public

Service Superannuation Act Section 22 (2) Increased

work age to 70

2011

THRONE SPEECH

2012

1981 1996 2001

The AGE of Majority Act 2001– lowered the official age of majority from 21 to 18

2004

2007 2008

Review of The Human Rights Act, The HuckerReport 2008

Recommendation # 20Add AGE to the ACT

2009

More Research required

The Union advocates for AGE to

be added to the ACT

2002

The Human Rights

Commission discusses

adding AGE to the ACT

Our Ageing Population

64,237 Total Population 19,348 (30%) Population Aged 45-64 8,683 (14%) Population Aged 65 &

over 41 Median Age

Source: Census 2010

Jurisdictional Review: International Standards Protecting Against AGE

Discrimination U.S.A Canada United

KingdomCaribbean New

ZealandAustralia Bermuda

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) Protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basic of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation. ……….

Canada’s provinces, territories & federal government all have slightly different human rights laws however they all protect against age discrimination.

The Equality Act 2010 included age as a protected characteristic. The law provides protection against age discrimination in employment, training and adult education, for people of all ages. Recently the legislation has been amended to include goods & services.

Many Caribbean Islands have Constitutional protections against limited grounds of discrimination such as race and religion, but have no human rights legislation protecting against discrimination.

The Human Rights Act 1993 aims to promote and protect human rights including age accordance with a number of United Nations Covenants or Conventions on Human Rights that the New Zealand Government has signed.

Australia’s most recent federal discrimination law, the Age Discrimination Act 2004, aims to ensure that all Australians – young and old – and everyone in between are treated equally and have the same opportunities as others.

The Human Rights Act 1981Does not protect on the grounds of AGE

Mandatory RetirementNO MANDATORY RETIREMENT MANDATORY RETIREMENT

USA - OUTLAWED 1986 Japan- Increased from 55 to 60 in 1994, increasing to 65 in 2012

Canada - ABOLISHED -between 1973 & 2009

France- Private sector from 60-65 in 2003

New Zealand- PHASED OUT -between 1993 & 1999

Sweden- After the age of 67 in 2001

Australia- ABOLISHED 2004 Italy- Will increase to 66 by 2018

UK- REMOVED in 2011

Possible Considerations for Age Legislation

Employees Employers

Possible flexible working conditions Disproportionately high insurance benefits

Possible adoption of a “phased” or gradual retirement

Disability Insurance

Possible training schemes for older workers Life Insurance

Possibly encourage employees to work later in life with incentives:

More savingsIncreased pension amount for later retirementCreative benefits and compensation methods

Pension Cost

Health Insurance

Comments from the Stakeholder Consultations INSURANCE

COMPANIESBUSINESSES

INSURANCE Discrimination in Underwriting. Talked about the implications of discrimination in underwriting and the statements of fact. Has nothing to do with gender, has to do with age and is actuarial & quantitatively based.

Comments about age limits with regard to health insurance and life insurance. Need to look at both spectrums – old and young.

EMPLOYMENT There has been no test, but if someone over 65 wanted to work; as long as they could do the job, they care less about age as long as you are producing. We live in a performance based society no mater the age. Implement physical/mental based test

 65 is the default retirement age and there is a retirement policy in place. However, management can make a case for an individual to work beyond 65 years young as well as terminating employment. Consideration will be based on a business need one year at a time. Must be objectively justified

PENSION What happens if the DRA is removed ? What are the consequences of insured benefits and employee share plans? A phased out approach seems practical. Rethink the transition

If age discrimination and mandatory retirement are put into an Equality Act and benefits have to be provided to 70 year olds, this could be a major cost to the employer. Establishment of a formal code of practice.

Suggestions from the Public Consultation held in September 2012 • There should be no mandated retirement age. • There should be an option for phased retirement

starting at 65 and finishing at 70.• People have not been hired due to their age.• People are being made redundant; the economy is

being used as an excuse• Culture of ageism must be removed• People should be able to work as long as they are

capable.• People told too young and also too old for jobs: not

hired.• Government should reconsider the process

pertaining to keeping employees beyond 65 years.

Tell Us What YOU Think

• Are you in favour of adding Age as a ground of Discrimination to a Human Rights/Equalities Framework?

• How would this affect your organization?• What are your policies regarding retirement i.e.

any default retirement age or incentives?• Have you had any employee/s request to work

beyond 65?• Have you hired any persons over 55?• Do you think there should be a mandatory

retirement age for all persons in Bermuda?