The best practice guidelines were developed along three key themes complementing already existing literature:

» Employment transitions: recruitment, training, promotion, redundancy, age monitoring

» Working hours and work/life balance

» Work organisation and workplace design

The overall aim was to discuss and develop good practice guidelines related to the employment of older workers at a trans- European level considering national frameworks:

» Taking into account labour force occupational differences, societal retirement policy differences and cultural differences within and between countries in developing policies that will improve both individual choice and societal well-being.

» Involving representatives of the social partners in reaching agreement on national benchmarks that will help identify and highlight innovative and effective policy and practice.

» Bringing nationally-developed benchmarks together to inform the creation of European Guidelines of Best Practice on the Ageing Workforce.

Each partner selected several employment sectors and geographical regions and then engaged with the relevant employers, employment associations, trade unions and other bodies. Thus the CAWA project covered a wide variety of employment situations, namely:

» Austria: metal industry & hotels, restaurants and tourism

» Spain: hotels, restaurants and tourism & small retail businesses

» Sweden: banking; construction, gas engineering & secondary teachers

» UK: London bus drivers; Gas engineering & NHS public health care

National summary reports, giving insight into the demographic situation and sectoral case study reports, providing an overview of the sectors and organisations have been developed as part of the project outputs1. The former provide a framework while the latter can be particularly helpful to employers and stakeholders in different regions, but operating in the same sector – thus aiding transferability.

European Best Practice Guidelines Codes/guidance on best practice: related to employment sectors, nationally and trans-European based on participatory workshops

The processes and practices developed under the CAWA project promote creative approaches to workforce ageing by involving a range of regional stakeholders, including employers to assess and develop benchmarks for innovative policies and practices related to the employment of older workers over the age of 50 years.

In Austria, Spain, Sweden and UK we organised forums/workshops focusing on case studies representing different industrial sectors (see above) and geographical regions. With additional input from Bulgaria, these international meetings led to the development of sectoral, national and eventually European benchmarks for best practice related to the employment of older workers.

The guidelines themselves are summarised under the following headings in line with the key themes:

1. Awareness of the issue of demographic change

2. Employment transitions

3. Working hours and work-life balance

4. Work organisation and workplace design

5. Pensions

National and regional co-operation with key stakeholders needs to facilitate the grounding of the best practices within the real employment, economic and demographic context. Hence discussions need to be held at a range of levels, including social partners, trade unions, employers, employers associations and above all older workers themselves.

There was real value in the intersectoral, interregional and trans-European discussions allowing for debate on common and contrasting issues and the development of flexible yet robust best practices to take these forward.

Involvement and engagement by employers, the relevant social partners and regional authorities. While the best practices developed under CAWA provide a framework, further regional discussions need to take place at a range of levels in order to engage the partners, sharpen and modify the guidelines depending on the regional demographic situation.

The UK and Swedish examples have highlighted the importance of trade union involvement and social dialogue. Here trade union support was a key element in the education and legitimisation processes involved in implementing best practice.

There is a real issue of emphasising individual choice - older workers should neither be forced to stay on nor compelled to leave employment.

For example, in countries with a strong welfare system, such as Austria many workers are encouraged to leave work before official retirement age. While such systems in themselves are welcomed, they may not be sustainable and there should not be any social pressure to retire early.