Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Handling ageing staff a thorny issue



How then do employers deal with an increasingly ageing work force? And when do employees hear the voice of friends and say to themselves "the work is done"?

The starting point is that it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age under the Human Rights Act 1993.

In July 2009 the Supreme Court of New Zealand found in McAlister v Air New Zealand Ltd that the airline had discriminated against Mr McAlister on the grounds of age.

He had reached the age of 60, which according to International Civil Aviation Codes, was too old to be a pilot-in-command.

The Supreme Court agreed with the Employment Court which found unlawful discrimination on basis of age. Air New Zealand was ordered to reinstate Mr McAlister and work around any international age restrictions.

In a difficult economic climate, there is less turnover of staff. There is now a growing tension for employers between pressure of junior staff seeking promotion and the decisions of older workers to remain in their jobs.

It is not that experience and dedication are not appreciated, but in order to grow, businesses need a healthy churn of staff.

Companies need to move and expand. They need to attract young people who will innovate and evolve the business.

They can not do this if they can't offer these employees promotion and opportunities to develop.

Then there is the issue of those employees who are no longer able to cope with jobs that they previously excelled in.

Inevitably, most of us slow down, and become less adaptable to new situations and technology.

The absence of a compulsory retirement age leaves employers with a quandary. In the past, there was a natural expectation that employees would retire at 65, and therefore some slowing of performance may have been tolerated where employees were near retirement age.

4. Week of safety talks

OVER 30 participants from civil aviation organisations across the Pacific are meeting at the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji headquarters in Nadi to discuss ways of improving regional air transportation systems and services.

Speaking at the opening of the week-long International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Development of National Performance Framework for Air Navigation System workshop, permanent secretary for Public Enterprises, Tourism and Communication Elizabeth Powell said safety in the provision of air transport was paramount because of the high importance placed on tourism passenger safety.

"For countries, such as ours, for which tourism is a key industry, it is equally important to implement measures that ensure environmental sustainability if we are to grow our economy and improve the quality of life for our people," she said.

Ms Powell said collaboration and consultation between CAAF and Airports Fiji Limited had recently seen the development of a National Performance Framework based on the ICAO's stringent requirements.

"This document will be revised at the completion of this workshop and will be expanded to include issues unique to Fiji's domestic operating environment," she explained.

Participants from Fiji, New Zealand, Nauru, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are attending the workshop facilitated by the Pacific Aviation Safety Office and ICAO.



By

NEHA JAIN

      

   

     



            



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