Workers can face discrimination and workplace harassment for all kinds. A worker treated differently because of their sex or the color of their skin probably immediately understands that their experience is an actionable form of discrimination or harassment.
The same isn’t always true for workers who face age discrimination. Not only are many people unsure of what constitutes age discrimination, but it can also be more subtle than other common forms of workplace discrimination. What does age discrimination on the job look like?
Age discrimination affects those over the age of 40
Companies sometimes choose not to hire younger workers for certain roles. They may make their hiring decisions based on education, experience and proven results on the job. Someone fresh out of high school or college may not have the skills or hands-on learning necessary to do a job properly.
Under federal rules, it is not age discrimination for companies to choose not to hire or promote younger workers. However, workers over the age of 40 deserve proper consideration based on their skill and performance, regardless of their age.
Examples of age discrimination
Age discrimination can take on many different forms. It could involve a company choosing not to hire older workers with the right experience for a position in favor of younger workers with lower salary requirements.
It might look like a company only promoting younger workers. Age discrimination could also involve laying off or terminating multiple older workers as part of a downsizing attempt.
If your employer considered your age rather than your job performance when making employment decisions, you may need to fight back against the age discrimination you experienced at work.