This morning I had an e-mail from PeopleBank, which must be one of the many agencies, companies and organisations I signed up to while looking for another job closer to home.  This mail was to tell me about the new Employment Equality (Age) Regulations now in force and what it all means.

Basically it said that, from now on companies can't discriminate on the grounds of age.  PeopleBank say that they will remove any visibility of age from employers who might view my online details, and they also recommend that I upload a new CV with any date-of-birth removed.

Having just had yet another birthday I was more aware of my age than normal, which although not very old is quite ancient in my chosen profession of IT.  If you read the trade papers the letters pages are always full of older IT workers complaining that they cannot find a new job after redundancy – and in IT anything over 35 counts as 'older'.  I was aware of this during my own searches, but I suppose age is less of a barrier in management jobs.

Realistically, it is quite difficult to disguise age in a CV, even by implication: if your first job was in 1980 its pretty obvious you are not 30 any more!  But at least employers cannot filter applications by age on the employment boards so the CVs of more experienced IT people stand more chance of getting seen, so even if its only a small step at least it is a step in the right direction.

No doubt the CBI and other forces of conservatism will see this as yet another example of "political correctness gone mad" imposed by Europe, but then they said the same when they had to stop discriminating on the basis of sex, race and disabilities, cut down on pollution, take human rights into account and provide safe and healthy work envirnments and big business doesn't seem to have got any smaller as a result. 

Not that the legislation is just about recruitment. Retirement ages, pensions and rights for younger employees are also covered – although the implementation of pensions provisions is being delayed by two months.

Amongst all the personality politics and pantomime of recent weeks and months, its refreshing to be reminded what I joined the party for in the first place. The extension of equality to more workers is always welcome, even if it seems that the rate of change is not fast enough. 

Reading the Reps' Bulletin from my union I am also reminded of other new legislation to protect the rights of workers: the Work and Families Act 2006 for example, with new regulations on maternity and parental leave, and improvements in flexible working arrangements, also coming into force this week.

I still don't think we should have invaded Iraq, but I have to keep telling myself that is not the only thing Labour have done in the last 9 years.