Cuts Both Ways

Most employers know age discrimination in the workplace against older people is against the law – even if they don’t always act on that knowledge.

How the legislation protects younger people suffering age discrimination at work

Age discrimination is against the law in all areas of employment including terms and conditions, promotions, transfers, dismissals and training. In addition, employers must make sure that redundancy policies do not directly discriminate against younger workers. Thus all employees - both young and old – have new rights of protection which will hopefully remove traditional barriers created by stereotyped views of age.

Common cases of age discrimination at work against younger workers

Most cases we see involve harassment on the grounds of age by an older manager’s unwanted conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating the younger employee’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. In the past, where young people have had less than one year’s service it has been very difficult to take action against an employer as the one-year service rule gave them no right to resign and bring an employment tribunal claim for constructive unfair dismissal. The age discrimination legislation makes it possible for a young person who is new to their job to stand up to these workplace bullies. 

How can a younger worker tell if their treatment is age discrimination?

UK workers could be the victim of intentional or unintentional age discrimination if they are being treated differently to colleagues on the basis of their age. To establish whether or not the treatment constitutes discrimination on the grounds of age, the employee should keep a diary of events and note who else is being treated in this way (record the date, time and detail of incidents). If colleagues are being similarly treated it is wortrecording their age and any other relevant discriminatory factors such as race, sex or a learning disability protected by the Disability Discrimination Act.

Understanding multiple forms of discrimination

Identifying age discrimination can be difficult as there is often a crossover with other types of discrimination. For example, a young woman may be sexually harassed not only because of her gender, but also her age. In addition, it is our experience that a combination of age and learning difficulties has seen younger workers being harassed and victimised precisely because of their vulnerability. Younger workers are often less confident in standing up for themselves and where multiple discrimination is taking place they may need help and support to take on the perpetrators.

What should employees do if they suspect they are being discriminated against

Anyone with serious grounds to believe they failed to secure a job due to their age should seek legal advice unless there is a clear and valid justification for the age restriction. If an individual believes they are suffering age discrimination in the workplace, the first step should be to talk informally to a line manager - but only if this is not the person responsible for the age discrimination. In such instances the employee should try and identify another manager or a member of the human resources team with whom they can discuss these issues.

If the treatment continues or if this informal approach is not taken seriously the next step is to use the statutory grievance procedure by setting out in a letter a full and detailed account of events.  A grievance must always be brought prior to resigning unl