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How to identify age discrimination

On Behalf of | Dec 31, 2018 | Workplace Discrimination |

Everyone deserves to feel comfortable in the workplace. There are numerous protections in place to help vulnerable groups, including older Americans who may face age-related discrimination.

Workers can take legal action against employers who have discriminated against them based on their age. Here are some of the signs an employer wants to get rid of older workers.

Seeing a pattern of only hiring younger employees

Many businesses only consider younger employees who are right out of college. This is particularly prevalent in tech-based industries where younger people are more likely to have studied new technologies in college. While companies want to bring people on who have the skills necessary to do the work, it is entirely possible for older individuals to have those traits. Employers may judge an applicant before even reading the resume, and that is discrimination.

Being encouraged to retire

Most people want to retire when they are 65. However, some companies try to get employees to retire sooner. For example, a company may have a policy to forcefully retire people when they reach 60. Some businesses will offer incentives to employees who retire early, such as taking advantage of a retirement package sooner. However, this mandatory retirement age can only exist in certain professions, such as police officers and firefighters. Some companies will even take the next step and simply fire people at a certain age so that they do not have to give out retirement packages.

Becoming isolated

Some companies will not fire older employees due to it obviously looking like discrimination. However, some employers will leave older workers out of important decisions so that the person feels isolated. Over time, the person may quit on his or her own. Outside of work-related decisions, employers may leave older employees out of fun activities. It becomes difficult to feel like part of the team.

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