English with Jo

Should age discrimination be made illegal in the workplace?

CONTEXT

Age discrimination occurs when a decision is made on the basis of a person’s age. In the workplace these are most often decisions about recruitment, promotion and dismissal. Although such discrimination could be seen in the reluctance to hire workers who were perceived to be too young and immature for the job, in practice it refers to a bias against older workers. In societies that celebrates youthfulness above almost all else, it can be very difficult for even highly qualified professionals to find new positions after the age of 50. For most older workers there appears little they can do to resist being swept aside in favour of younger replacements. European Union states have recently had to introduce an anti-age discrimination law, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against employees and job seekers because of their age. But around the world the issue remains a controversial one, both in general and in particular over the practice of setting mandatory retirement ages. read more