Age discrimination

Age discrimination in work is defined as any decisions or actions taken against an individual due to their age. The laws regarding age discrimination are set in place to protect older workers, who are at a disadvantage when compared to younger workers. 

Age discrimination is illegal in the workplace and can affect older workers in every aspect of their employment. An employer might choose not to promote an older employee or offer them a raise because they believe that he/she is too old and won’t be as productive as a younger worker. It’s also possible for an employer to lay off or fire someone based on their age without giving any reason whatsoever.

Here are examples of age discrimination:

• In the middle of a job interview, the interviewer says: “We had someone who was closer to retirement come in for this position. It didn’t matter that you brought so much more experience than them — you were too young for us.". This is hiring age discrimination. 
• The company doesn't offer any employee benefits until they've been with a company for five years. For example, employee only worked for four months, but they still won't let you enroll in their health insurance plan because they think having younger employees is too risky.

If an employer does discriminate against their employees in one or more of these ways, they could be breaking the law.

Here is how to prevent age discrimination at your company:

• Be aware of your own biases.
• Don't assume that younger people are more tech savvy.
• Don't assume that older people are less tech savvy.
• Don't assume that older people are less ambitious than their younger counterparts, either (in fact, this one is a myth).