York College: WorkAge

Many people leave work early because of a disability, long-term health condition or some sort of caring responsibility which impacts on their ability to work (or the type of work they can do).

A lack of flexibility from employers can exacerbate this trend. In order to address this issue and extend and maintain working lives, evidence suggests it is most effective to work with both the individual employee and the employer, adopting an early intervention model (which has worked successfully in retaining disabled workers and those with mental health issues).

York College has been working with employers to apply this model to improve the way they manage older workers as they approach retirement.

Using diagnostic tools, planning tools and skills development techniques, consultants have helped to identify older employees' skills and strengths and looked for opportunities for personal development within the organisation.

The service helps employers support older workers to improve both their working lives and their retirement. This enables employers to retain older workers and helps employees remain productive for longer.