Bill has been in his job for 20 years. A younger employee has just been promoted over him. He feels he has been passed over because of his age, and is being forced to retire.
Mary’s company is downsizing. As one of the firm’s youngest employees, she’s afraid that she will be first in line for redundancy.
Jo has been out of work for six months. She can’t find another job, and thinks it’s because she is over 50.
Here are some other examples of age-related harassment or discrimination. Have any of these happened to you?
- Has someone at work called you old, or teased you about your age or retirement plans?
- Have you been treated less favourably than your younger colleagues?
- Are you being disciplined for something that has never been an issue before and that older employees are doing without being disciplined?
- Are your older colleagues being invited to events or offered training, leaving you behind?
- Are older colleagues being given all the best projects or workspaces?
- Is your employer recruiting and promoting only young people rather than better-qualified older employees?
Under the Equality Act 2010 it’s illegal to discriminate against employees, job-hunters and trainees because of their age.
These are the main types of age discrimination:
- Direct discrimination: based on your actual age. Employers can legitimately discriminate on this basis only when it is proportionate, appropriate and necessary
- Direct discrimination by perception: based on your perceived age
- Direct discrimination by association: based on the age of someone you associate with
- Indirect discrimination: when there is a workplace policy, practice, procedure or rule that applies to everyone but disadvantages people of a particular age. In limited circumstances, this can be justified if it is ‘a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’
- Harassment: when your dignity has been violated by unwanted conduct relating to age, or the environment is intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive to you because of your age
- Victimisation: when you are treated unfairly because you made or supported a complaint about age discrimination
The vast majority of workers are protected under age discrimination law, for example, there are no age limits on unfair dismissal and redundancy.
If you think you have suffered age discrimination, you may be entitled to compensation – but first you will have to prove it.
Keep a note of any comments or incidents, with the date, time and any witnesses. This evidence can then be used in an employment tribunal claim.
We also recommend you take expert advice – of course, we can help with that.
More information
For full details about the law relating to age discrimination, click this link
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