The Government is currently asking people for their views on plans to outlaw age discrimination in workplace by next October.

The consultation – called “Age Matters” – asks how UK should implement EU Employment Directive, which bans any age discrimination in employment and vocational training.

And warning to unaware employers is: watch out for pitfalls.

The directive covers issues including: ·The scrapping of mandatory retirement ages where employers can dismiss staff when they reach a certain age – unless it can be justified ·The possibility of a default retirement age of 70, when employers could require employees to retire without having to justify their decision. ·Situations where employers could, in exceptional circumstances, justify treating people differently because of their age. ·Changes to law regarding unfair dismissal and redundancy.

It will also mean that a number of everyday examples of age discrimination will be outlawed, including an employer telling a worker they are too old to go on training programmes, and a bar on advertisements specifying upper age limits for applications.

Despite fact that new legislation in 2006 will outlaw reference to age in job adverts, ageism is still rife at present.

A new study by CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) finds that 1 in 5 job seekers have been discouraged from applying to a position because it contained an age restriction.

The study shows that although prejudice is much worse for those over 40, 1 in 12 of those under 35 were also discriminated against for being too young. In addition to this, twice this number believe they have been rejected for being too young, but have no evidence.

By 2006 such practices will be illegal with new legislation outlawing any reference of age in recruitment adverts, interviews or at workplace.

Why get certified? I believe that there are three fundamental reasons for you to consider adding a professional certification to your freelance portfolio.

First, just like classic IT certifications, holding a professional certification demonstrates that you are competent. It’s one thing to state on your resume, website or promotional materials that you know how to use Microsoft Word, but it’s quite another to state that you are a Microsoft-Certified Office Specialist in Word. The difference is just one passable exam, but to a business considering who to hire for a freelance word processing or data management project difference is significant.

That brings me to second advantage. As a freelancer (or owner of an at-home business services business), being certified always gives you a “leg up” on competition. This is particularly true if you are fairly new to freelance market and haven’t yet acquired an impressive list of satisfied clients. Holding a certification is a quick and reliable way of letting prospective clients know that you are a professional.

Finally, certification in a relevant field can enable you to parlay entry-level freelance jobs into more lucrative contracts. Data entry work, for instance, is typically one of most available freelance opportunities; unfortunately, it is also usually worst paying. Microsoft certification in Access or as a database administrator can help a data entry freelancer transition to a database design and management contract. Today, there are professional certifications to facilitate such a business development strategy for freelancers in virtually every field.

Here’s a look at best certifications for freelancers and work-at-home professionals.

CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) offers most widely-recognized vendor neutral certifications in world. As name suggests, most of their certifications are in IT field; however, many are valuable for freelancers of all stripes.