Discrimination in the workplace can take many forms. Some people experience mistreatment because they are the only man or woman in a department dominated by one sex. Other people face discrimination and mistreatment based on their religion or a distinct medical condition.
Age discrimination is also a common issue that affects professionals across the United States. Companies should not consider protected personal characteristics, including a worker’s age, when deciding who to hire, who to promote or who to lay off when downsizing. Yet, this doesn’t mean that all companies follow the rules.
Age is a protected characteristic that employees generally cannot hide from employers. They need to be able to recognize age discrimination if they want to protect their careers and hold businesses accountable for inappropriate conduct.
Age discrimination affects older employees
There are many scenarios in which companies might need more experienced workers to fill specific positions. Project lead and managerial roles often go to older workers with more years of hands-on experience as opposed to younger workers just starting their careers.
Generally speaking, it is not employment discrimination to require a certain number of years of experience from a worker even if that prevents younger employees from qualifying for a role. It is discrimination to deny opportunities to experienced workers based on their age.
Workers over the age of 40 should not have to worry about their age negatively affecting their employment opportunities. Businesses should not exclude older workers from consideration or terminate them inappropriately because of their age.
Age discrimination might involve choosing not to hire an older worker for an available position. Companies can discriminate by refusing to promote older workers. Laying off or firing workers with more experience while keeping lower-paid, younger workers could constitute age discrimination. So could permitting a hostile work environment where coworkers abuse older employees by mistreating them, excluding them and making them feel unsafe on the job.
Companies in California have an obligation to make decisions without considering protected characteristics. They also have an obligation to intervene when workers experience harassment in the workplace because of their protected characteristics.
Making inappropriate employment decisions and failing to provide harassment-free workplaces are both examples of age discrimination that could unfairly disadvantage older professionals. Those who believe they have experienced workplace discrimination may need to keep records and discuss what they have experienced at length with a skilled legal team. Taking legal action against a company might be an option in cases where workers can prove that employers violated their rights because of their age.