The age of reason

Let's not beat about the bush. The hospitality sector has a problem with older workers. Of the estimated 1.6 million people employed in the sector, nearly 36% are under 25. The default recruitment tactic of most restaurateurs and hoteliers, faced with a vacancy, is to draft in a student or some other young person, perhaps a backpacker or a friend of one of the other young people already behind the bar.

The Employers' Forum on Age (EFA), a body of more than 180 employers dedicated to promoting a more diverse age-related workforce, has precisely three hospitality companies among its membership: Mitchells & Butlers, JD Wetherspoon and Rank. But as the last one is purely a gaming business, even that doesn't really count.

Pensions crisis
Yet it's becoming increasingly clear that the status quo in the sector is unsustainable. First, the demographics are against it - according to research by the Age Partnership Group, part of the Government's Age Positive campaign, in the past 12 years the number of under-45s in the workforce has fallen from 43% to 37%, with the numbers of 18- to 24-year-olds falling the fastest. The over-50s, by comparison, are the most rapidly increasing sector of the labour force. Older people, moreover, are now healthier and more active for longer, and the UK's pensions crisis means more older people are having to work for longer to fund their retirement.

Second, the law is against it - from 1 October this year new laws will come into force banning age discrimination (against both young and old) in the employment, recruitment, management and retirement of workers.

So what's this all going to mean to the average restaurant or hotel manager? The first thing to stress is that, come 1 October, it's unlikely that hoteliers and restaurateurs will be faced with a flood of age discrimination tribunal cases, according to employment lawyers. But that's not to say there's room for complacency. Janvi Patel, a solicitor at law firm Charles Russell, has predicted that in the long run, the legislation could have as much of an impact in terms of changing how we think about our workplaces as the sex discrimination laws of the 1970s.

Where the hospitality trade may have to get its act together - and quickly - is on recruitment, concedes the British Hospitality Association's deputy chief executive Martin Couchman. "The industry is notoriously sloppy about recruitment practice, so there may be some issues there, but I don't think they're going to be significant," he says.

If, as a manager, you look around your restaurant and see you're employing only under-25s it's probably worth stepping back and asking why. Is it that older people don't want to work for you (if so, why?) or is it, more dangerously, because subliminally or not you're filtering out older applicants?

Same opportunities
Are you advertising where only young people will read? Is the wording of your advertisements putting off older workers? Are you conducting interviews in the right way? And when you do hire older workers, are you treating them in the same way and offering them the same opportunities as everyone else?

The basic rule of thumb here is to ask yourself: "In a worst-case scenario, could I defend this appointment/decision/action in a tribunal?" If the answer is "yes", fine, but if you're not sure then it's probably worth changing the way you're operating.

Beyond your recruitment policies and wording of advertisements, you should be looking at things such as how you conduct appraisals, the mechanisms you use for promoting people and how you pay people. Under the new legislation, employers will still be able to reward loyalty and length of service, but you'll need to make sure you're not paying someone more (or less) simply because they're of a certain age.

The changing age demographic is not only going to change your employee base but also your customer base, points out Sam Mercer, director of the EFA. This means the business case for employing older workers will simply become more compelling as time goes on, and eventually it will be less a case of having to make an effort to employ older workers and more madness not to.

But there can be challenges. Younger managers may often feel less confident about managing older workers, fearing they have more experience than them or perhaps resent their superiority at a younger age. "Younger managers do sometimes have issues with older workers being resentful of them," Mercer concedes. "So older workers sometimes need to adjust too."

Wrong perception
There's also a common perception - wrong, argues Mercer - that older workers cost more to employ and are less able to cope physically with the demands of the industry. "It's all about fear. If you're not managing older workers properly, you're just not managing properly. Older workers don't need to be treated any
differently. Most of the problems associated with it are because managers haven't been trained to manage," she adds.

As to the physical side of the job, if someone is humping barrels down into the cellar or on their feet all day in the hotel reception, managers will inevitably, as part of their duty of care to the employee, need to be aware of any physical constraints. But as Mercer points out, this would apply just as much to an unfit or overweight youngster or middle-aged worker as it would to an older employee. "It's about individual ability and individual fitness to do the job," she stresses.

While Wetherspoon's already has a good track record in this area - as well as being an EFA member, it's accredited with the Age Positive campaign - ahead of the October legislation it's carrying out an extensive six-month training programme for managers on issues of diversity and managing older workers.

"We're trying to get them to look outside what they might feel is their comfort zone," says Mandy Ferries, senior personnel officer. "We want them to look outside where they might normally recruit and look beyond the student or young person whom they may traditionally attract."

Ferries concedes that, at first glance, the legislation can appear intimidating, but insists it needn't be. "For us the legislation has never been the overriding factor. It's daunting because of the type of claim that could potentially come out from it, but for us it's more about trying
to change how people look at the business and make it a way of life," she says.

Another employer making changes in this area is hotel chain Marriott. Although it has a policy that states employees should retire at 65, workers are "actively encouraged" to work past the state pension age if they want to, says Ann Upsall, HR manager at the Marriott hotel, Grantham. "We took the decision that, should our mature colleagues wish to work beyond 65, we wouldn't stand in their way," she explains. "This is both beneficial to the hotel, as it reduces recruitment costs, and the employee, who may not want to retire and who is still fully competent in their ability to carry out their duties. All cases of ‘deferred retirement' are reviewed annually."

Patient manner
Older employees are also encouraged to act as mentors to younger members of staff during their three-month probation. "We find mature workers have a patient, reassuring manner, which helps new starters settle into our workplace quickly and efficiently," says Upsall.

Ultimately, as the demographics become more pronounced, the hospitality sector is going to have to address this issue. But while you will need to be more aware, you won't have to go mad, points out the BHA's Couchman.

"There's a shortage of people in the hospitality sector. There are opportunities for older workers, but they're going to have to be proper jobs," he explains. "That shortage doesn't mean you have to jump from taking on an 18-year-old to a 70-year-old."

Case study

At an age when many people are starting to think about a quieter life, Archie Denny, 64, is busy serving customers at JD Wetherspoon's bustling Standing Order pub on Edinburgh's George Street.

"People, particularly middle-aged people, say they like being served by me. If you're older you tend to see things from a different perspective," says the former night porter who has been working at the pub for the past five years. "After being on the night shift for two years, it was quite nice to work during the day," he adds.

While the work is physical, and Denny is on his feet for 10 hours a day, it's not an issue as far as he's concerned. "The physical side of it isn't a problem for me. I've kept myself fit, I do refereeing at the weekend, so I reckon I'm probably fitter than a lot of young people," he says.

The company also makes a point of ensuring that training is offered to all staff, irrespective of age. "They could quite easily have said there's no point in training me, but that's not the way they are," he says.

Although Denny has only a year until he reaches state retirement age, Wetherspoon's doesn't have a set retirement age, so he could continue working if he wanted to. But he hasn't decided yet what he'll do. "The way I feel now it wouldn't be a problem. It wouldn't bother me, but it might my wife," he laughs.

Top tips

• Avoid using words like "young" or "mature" in job advertisements.
• Place job advertisements where they can reach different age groups.
• If possible, use a mixed-age interview panel in the selection process.
• Train managers, especially those who interview, in an understanding of equality and diversity policies and ensure they know that age shouldn't affect their choice of candidate.
• Avoid age "cut-offs" for promotion - promote on the basis of measurable performance and demonstrated potential, rather than purely age.
• Offer training and development to employees of all ages. Encourage reluctant older and younger workers by using, as
  role models, employees of all age ranges who have benefited from training.
• Base redundancy decisions on objective, job-related criteria.
• Agree a fair and consistent retirement policy with employees. Offer pre-retirement support and, where possible, consider flexible or extended retirement options.

Source: Age Positive

What the legislation says

The new regulations are part of the European Employment Directive (Council Directive 2000/78/EC for those who note these things), and come into force on 1 October this year.

They cover all aspects of age discrimination, including employment, recruitment, training, promotion, development, termination, perks and pay. Upper age limits for unfair dismissal and redundancy will be removed.

A national default retirement age of 65 will be introduced, making it unlawful to compulsorily retire anyone under 65. This will be reviewed in 2011.

All employees will have a "right to request" to work beyond 65 or whatever retirement age has been set by the employer, and employers will be required to consider all such requests.