Everyday discrimination in the Australian workplace: Assessing its prevalence and age and gender differences.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to increase understanding of the nature and prevalence of discriminatory experiences in the workplace, focusing on issues of age and gender. METHODS: The concept of everyday discrimination was operationalised in a survey of a representative sample of Australian workers. RESULTS: It was observed that overall, experiences of everyday discrimination were rare. Among men, such experiences declined with age, whereas for women almost no age differences were observed. CONCLUSION: It is argued that the nature of labour market age barriers has been misunderstood and the extent of discrimination faced by older workers possibly overstated.

Australian employer usage of the practice of offering reduced working hours to workers close to retirement: Extent and determinants.

AIM: This study aimed to determine factors associated with the implementation by employers of the practice of offering reduced working hours for workers nearing retirement. METHODS: Data came from a survey of 2000 employers of more than 50 employees each (30% response rate). RESULTS: A minority (33%) of employers offered reduced working hours to older workers nearing retirement. Factors associated with offering reduced working hours were: expecting workforce ageing to cause a loss of staff to retirement; being a large employer; being a public/not-for-profit sector employer; not experiencing difficulties recruiting labourers; having a larger proportion of workers aged over 50; experiencing national competition for labour; not experiencing difficulties recruiting machinery operators/drivers; not expecting workforce ageing to increase workplace injuries; and experiencing difficulties with the quality of candidates. CONCLUSION: A minority of employers were found to offer reduced working hours to those nearing retirement. Factors associated with their propensity to do so included industry sector, size of employer, concerns about labour supply and the effects of workforce ageing.

Walking to wellness in an ageing sedentary university community: design, method and protocol.

BACKGROUND: Older workers are less physically active and have a higher rate and cost of injury than younger workers and so have reduced work-ability. Concurrently, sedentary behaviour in the workplace, in transport and in the home is increasing and has harmful health effects. Walking is a familiar, convenient, and free form of health-enhancing physical activity that can be integrated into working life and sustained into older age however workplace walking programs targeted at older workers have not been evaluated. PURPOSE: We designed a randomised-controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a phased individually-tailored 10-week walking program on work-day steps, health status and work-ability of employees at an Australian university with an ageing sedentary workforce. METHODS: A convenience sample of 154 academic and administrative employees aged 45-70 years will be recruited and randomly allocated to either an experimental (walking) group or control (maintain usual activity) group. Participants will be provided with a pedometer and complete measures for step count, % body fat, waist circumference, blood pressure, self-reported physical activity, psychological wellbeing and work-ability, at baseline and end-intervention. 'Walkers' will select approaches tailored to their individual preference, psychological characteristics or life circumstances. Two distinct intervention phases will target adoption (weeks 2-5) and adherence (weeks 7-12) using 'Stages of Behaviour Change' principles. An ANOVA will test for effect of treatment on outcome with the baseline value entered as a covariate. DISCUSSION: This study will test whether tailoring worksite walking is an effective means of promoting health-enhancing physical activity in ageing sedentary workers.