A wave of people aged over-50 are returning to work, with the trend dubbed ‘the great unretirement’. According to the Office for National Statistics, 48,000 people have moved out of economic inactivity and back into employment during the past six months. Many of these people are returning retirees.

The movement is being encouraged by government, which has created a network of ‘50 PLUS Champions’ to help change employer attitudes towards hiring people aged over 50, as well as matching older jobseekers with opportunities to suit their skills.

Employers are increasingly turning their attention to the unretired. Many recognise the opportunity to engage a growing talent pool that can help address labour shortages and enrich workforces. To realise these benefits, employers are best placed reviewing recruitment efforts to ensure they remain fair and non-discriminatory.

Taking positive action
Aiming to recruit a certain demographic of people, such as a particular age group, can run the risk of positive discrimination. With the best intentions, HR teams may set about developing strategies and tactics that specifically appeal to those in retirement. This is logical, as the motivations, work-life balance, and remuneration requirements of retirees will differ to other age groups. It’s an approach that could be permitted under the Equality Act 2010 but is also one that may be deemed to show favourability.

The Act makes allowances for positive actions, where an employer reasonably thinks that persons of a protected characteristic are disproportionately represented. If an organisation can evidence that their workforce and recruitment process are not showing a proportionate representation of over 50s, they may well be justified in making more concerted efforts to recruit people from this age group.

If under-representation is not being legitimately addressed, it may be deemed as a form of positive discrimination. Employers and HR teams are best advised approaching each recruitment drive on a case-by-case basis and ensuring they have segmentation data that supports decisions to reach any specific group of protected characteristics.

Age, ability, and adjustments
Another key consideration for employers and HR teams aiming to recruit returning retirees is matching candidates with roles. Concerns may exist where tasks that involve physical exertion may not be suitable for people experiencing the natural effects of getting older. Employers keen to determine an individual’s abilities and any limitations during an interview process need to be mindful that they can only ask about health or disability if there are necessary requirements of the job that cannot be met, even when reasonable adjustments are made.

Essentially, ahead of recruitment efforts, employers and HR teams may want to consider any adjustments required to allow tasks to be completed by less able people, and the scale of making these adaptions. This would go some way to helping define what is a reasonable adjustment.

Maintaining equal pay
There are varying assumptions about why retirees are returning to work. Some people are rethinking decisions made during the pandemic to leave work, whilst others want to top up finances as they feel the squeeze of rising living costs. Although reasons differ, there’s a consensus that the unretired generation are more financially motivated. This can create complexities for employers, who might have to pay a premium to attract these workers.

It’s generally acceptable to pay an employee a higher salary to reflect their experience and skills. Organisations need to be careful though, that this doesn’t constitute an act of discrimination where they are simply paying someone more because of their age. Employers will need to carefully balance remuneration across the different generations within their workforce to ensure there’s no unreasonable disparity amongst people fulfilling the same roles. Upholding compliance with equal pay legislation is critical and focusing on salary transparency can help employers to maintain harmony throughout multigenerational workforces.