Many older workers have endured the ageist jokes of their younger colleagues and the nagging suspicion that their bosses think they're "over the hill".

But under government plans unveiled last week, the more mature members of the office are about to have the last laugh.

The legislation will outlaw age discrimination and scrap mandatory retirement ages. Employers will no longer be able to advertise for "young, energetic workers" and overlook older staff for training courses.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt Hewitt said Tesco and Barclays were good examples of employers moving towards a flexible retirement age.

Tesco employs a number of people aged over 80 and one in six of its 200,000 employees are over 50.

Its oldest employee is Dick Stanners, 82, a part-time assistant at the Crawley store. Dick, a former electrician, works for four half-days a week helping shoppers pack their goods.

He said: "Tesco had no qualms about hiring me because of my age. It understands old people can bring their own special skills to the workplace, in particular a greater understanding of people resulting from years of experience."

Six per cent of employees at Inkfish's Brighton call centre are aged over 50 and it wants to increase this to ten per cent by December 2003 and 15 per cent by July 2004. Its oldest employee is Don Ludlow, 69, a call centre agent.

Phil Harman, 58, is a checkout supervisor at B&Q's Brighton store, where she has worked for 14 years.

She said: "B&Q have always employed older people and we've just taken on a 65-year-old lady to work on the checkouts. I think companies find that older people are more reliable and more loyal.

"A lot of older people are returning to work because they're at a loss what to do when they retire. The money's important but a lot of them are a 'young' 65 and they realise they just can't stop working.

"There are some brilliant youngsters here and we all help each other out. I even give advice to some of the younger people."

Store manager Gary Curtis said: "It's definitely a good thing to recruit older staff. The benefits to the business are obvious - you get experts with years and years of experience.

"Their knowledge often puts others to shame and older people tend to be more loyal and deliver a high standard of service."

The DIY giant's oldest employee is Reg Hill, 90, who has worked at the Swindon store for 13 years.

Out of a workforce of 35,000, 19 per cent of B&Q staff are aged 50 or over.

Margaret Redman, 57, is a customer service representative at Asda in Hollingbury, Brighton, where she has worked for 14 years.

She said: "Us older ones are often more serious about work because we're doing it for the money so we can have a better way of life."

She hoped to retire sometime soon but would like to continue working on a part-time basis "to keep busy".

Human resources manager Roger Boyd said: "We're actively trying to encourage more applications from more mature candidates. We've got a fairly large number of students working here and they are probably only going to stay with us for a year or so.

"Older workers are more settled. They have a vast knowledge of various subjects and are typically very good at dealing with people. They also tend to be very reliable."

The store had about 150 employees aged over 50, comprising about 25 per cent of its 600-strong workforce.

Andrew Harrop, employment policy officer for Age Concern, said the country was faced with an ageing population and needed companies to keep and retain older workers.

He said: "We're going to need more and more older people to fill jobs as the population gets older. To not to do so would have grave consequences for the economy.

"Older people are just as willing to try things and work with new technology than younger people."

He said workers over 50 were more likely to stay in their jobs and stick with their company than younger workers looking to move up the career ladder elsewhere.

Tuesday July 8, 2003