Age Discrimination In The Workplace

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Getting older shouldn’t impact the workforce, but in many cases, it can cause older employees to miss out on opportunities because of age discrimination.

Age discrimination in the workplace can happen in different forms. It can happen to workers of all ages, but it affects workers over the age of 40 the most.

In this article, we will go over what age discrimination is, what the signs of it are, and how to prevent age discrimination.

Key Takeaways:

• Age discrimination is treating employees or applicants differently because of their age.

• Age discrimination can be in the form of age-related comments, not offering older employees challenging projects, or leaving those employees out of things.

• Making changes to the hiring process and enforcing age discrimination-related policies can help reduce ageism in the workplace.

What Is Age Discrimination?

Age Discrimination, or ageism, is treating an employee differently or less favorably because of their age. Age discrimination often applies to people who are older, but it can affect young people as well.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) forbids any age discrimination against anyone aged 40 years or older. This includes any aspect of employment such as:

• Hiring

• Firing or layoffs

• Promotions or demotions

• Performance evaluations

• Benefits and salaries

• Job assignments

• Training

The ADEA applies to companies with at least 20 employees, employment agencies, and labor organizations with at least 25 members. It also applies to any federal, state, or local governments.

Signs of Age Discrimination In the Workplace

Age discrimination can come in different forms. Here are some common signs of it in the workplace.

• Hearing or making age-related comments. Making age-related comments or remarks, even joking, can cross the line with age discrimination. This could be talking about an older employee’s knowledge of technology or if they have any retirement plans.

• Only younger employees are being hired or promoted. Hiring young employees can be a great thing. It gives them opportunities to gain experience, but it can become a problem when all new staffs are younger. There should be a diverse age group in your new staff.

  Promoting only young employees is also a sign of age discrimination. Promotions should only be given to those who deserve it or worked for it instead of based on age or how long someone has been there.

• Older employees are being passed over for challenging work assignments. Not offering older employees challenging work assignments and only offering them to younger employees is a form of discrimination. This also includes offering them the less desirable or tedious tasks that no one else wants to do.

• Encouraging older employees to retire. Intentionally offering older employees pamphlets about retirement packages because you want them to retire is a form of age discrimination. You should only be giving those to employees who have talked about retiring or want more information about what your company offers.

• Older employees being left out. Managers leaving older employees out of meetings or group projects can make older employees feel isolated. Managers may be doing this subconsciously or intentionally if they don’t think an older employee will be able to contribute.

  This can also be seen in other employees, not including older employees in group projects or even in work events, either in the office or outside of it. Employees should not be left out of workplace activities because of their age.

How to Avoid Age Discrimination In the Workplace

Age discrimination not only affects the person who is being discriminated against but can have a negative impact on the work environment. Ageism can cause you to lose a valued employee, and it can decrease employee morale. Here are some steps to help you avoid age discrimination in the workplace:

• Discrimination and diversity training. Creating discrimination and diversity training will help not only managers but all of your employees to have a better understanding of what to look for. It will help everyone know the benefits of age diversity and what could happen if they discriminate against someone based on their age.

• Enforce policies. Without enforcing the policies that help avoid discrimination, nothing will happen. Managers and human resources departments should be the ones to enforce the policy and give formal discipline to any employee who breaks these policies.

• Avoid layoffs based on age. If your company has to lay off employees, avoid looking toward older employees first just because they are closer to retirement age. You should also avoid laying off employees based on pay because the highest-paying employees are often your older employees.

• Reward on performance, not tenure. Promotions and rewards should be given based on an employee’s performance and not tenure. This will eliminate only giving promotions to older workers because of how long they have been with a company. It will also allow for those individuals who have worked the hardest to be rewarded.

• Change your hiring and interview process. Age discrimination is often seen the most in the interview process. Asking questions about when they expect to retire or if an applicant can keep up with technology developments can be a form of ageism.

  Avoid any types of questions or remarks about age in an interview. This also includes asking about an applicant’s birthday, graduation date, or where they see themselves in five or ten years. Creating a standard set of age-diverse interview questions that you ask all candidates can help eliminate age discrimination and ageism in interviews.

• Job description. Ageism can start in the job posting. This can include that your company is looking for young workers or recent college graduates. This can isolate older workers, and you can lose out on potential candidates.

  Using words like tech-savvy, active, and energetic can also be indicators of ageism and should be avoided when writing your job posting. Avoid using any words or phrases that may only attract young workers.

Benefits of Hiring Older Employees

Hiring older employees can come with many benefits. They include:

• More experience. Older workers will have more experience and knowledge of the industry than younger workers who have just graduated college. This can be an advantage to you because it will mean less training for them. They may even bring new knowledge on how to do something.

• They stay at jobs longer. In recent years, younger employees are no longer staying at a company longer than a couple of years. They don’t have a sense of loyalty to a company the way that older employees do. Older employees are more likely to stay at a job which can help reduce your employee turnover rate.

• Strong work ethic. Having a strong work ethic is so important no matter what industry you are working in. Older workers are more likely to show up to work early or stay late, and they rarely miss work.

• Confidence. Older workers are more confident in their work. This comes from having years of experience in the workforce. They may not need as much direction as younger employees. Their confidence can also have a positive impact on younger workers and help them become better workers.

• Better communication skills. Older employees know how to properly communicate within a team and how to convey their ideas. They will also have a better understanding of office politics and how to avoid them.

• More reliable. Employers are often able to rely on older employees to show up on time and take fewer sick days. This helps benefit the business because employers won’t be scrambling to find workers. Less sick days will also increase productivity which helps improve company profits and revenue.

Age Discrimination FAQ

1. What qualifies as age discrimination?

   Age discrimination can be qualified as any individual over the age of 40 being discriminated against because of their age. This can include unfair hiring or recruitment, denying a promotion or raise, or unfair job assignments. The Age Discrimination Act of 1967 helps protect those employees from age discrimination.

2. What are the signs of age discrimination?

   Signs of age discrimination include firing someone because of their age, giving bad performance reviews based on age, and no longer giving raises to older employees. It’s important to treat all employees equally to avoid any age discrimination cases.

3. What evidence is needed for discrimination?

   An employee needs direct evidence of age discrimination. This could be statements or documents made by managers or supervisors that relate to age. For example, if an employee was told they were being laid off because they were close to retirement age, the employee could use that to sue the employer.

4. Can an employee sue because of ageism?

   Yes, employees can sue because of ageism and age discrimination because of federal laws against age discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), protects applicants and employees 40 years of age or older from discrimination because of their age.

References

1. U.S. Department of Labor – Age Discrimination

2. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – Age Discrimination

Author

Taylor Berman

Taylor is a freelance writer from Pennsylvania. Taylor got into writing because she enjoys writing articles that help people and loves creating stories that inspire. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations with an interest in communications media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.