The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines age discrimination as treating present or future employees over 40 years of age in a negative manner in direct relation to their age. This practice is often referred to as ageism. Being able to properly identify the signs of age discrimination is vital in protecting the security of your work position. According to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), ageism is most commonly found throughout the following areas:
- the hiring process
- termination
- promotions
- work-related tasks
- benefits
- layoffs
- career training
These are the most prevalent circumstances in which age discrimination is present, but career-related ageism certainly isn’t just limited to the situations above. Familiarizing yourself with the signs of age discrimination can help you successfully recognize when you or a coworker are being victimized by some sort of ageism in the workplace. The sooner you are able to identify the signs, the sooner action can be initiated.
Staff Primarily Consists of Young Employees
Take a look around your current or future workplace. In what age ranges do the company’s employees seem to fall into? If the majority of employees are under 40 years of age, then it could be an indication that the company tends to favor younger applicants during the hiring process. If you are unable to estimate the average age range of employees by first glance, you can often find the median ages of current workers by researching the company’s statistics online.
Intimidating Retirement Tactics
Aggressive retirement schemes are often innocently referred to as ‘retirement packages’ in many fields of work. This is when management bodies offer employees retirement plans that they can be coerced into prematurely signing. Most employees are subtly warned that if they do not agree to these packages, they could potentially be terminated anyways.
Mandatory Retirement Ages
Unless someone works in law enforcement or other federal places of employment, mandatory retirement ages are actually illegal. Seeing that the company has listed a mandatory retirement age within one of their policies is one of the largest signs of age discrimination within the company, not to mention downright illegal. The rationale behind federal employees having enforced age limits is due to the inherent dangers that correlate to the mental and physical abilities needed to complete job assignments, which should not be necessary in most mainstream positions.
Age discrimination in the workplace is unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence in the United States. In fact, eight out of ten seniors want Congress to address ageism in a much more aggressive manner. If you have found yourself in a situation where you are facing one of these signs of age discrimination, contact Gabroy | Messer online or call 702-259-7777 today and see how we can help you fight back.
