Last month, a new law came into force in England that spelt the end to a longstanding right for employers to discriminate against their staff - the requirement for a staff member to retire once they had reached the age of 65.
This now means that age discrimination law UK has taken a huge leap forward and employers can no longer rely on this convenient excuse to get rid of older members of their team.
Of course, even before this new law came into force, there were a number of companies up and down the country that were already looking to staff of pensionable age to fill their ranks. They have long insisted that older members of staff often work much harder than their younger counterparts and you can never put a value on the amount of overall experience they are able to bring to the job.
It is very much hoped that this abolition of the retirement age will now see more and more other companies following in the same vein. One thing is certainly clear and that is that as the UK population insists on growing increasingly older, this law is one step towards addressing the balance.
Age discrimination is still highly prevalent within the workplaces of this country. If a person ever believes that they are being made to endure unfair harassment in this way, they should contact their nearest employment law solicitor, citizens advice bureau or Community Legal Services as soon as possible.