Ever looked at a candidate and thought they were too old or too young for the job for whatever reason? Then maybe you should look again, because overlooking applicants because of their age is illegal!

Age Positive campaign says you should look past candidates age for several reasons.

Laws against age discrimination were introduced in 2006, and they cover employment and vocational training in private and public sectors, and every other organisation. It also includes any company of any size and any member of staff you employ.

Unless you can objectively justify not recruiting, training or promoting someone because of their age, you must stick to the practices.

The Benefits Of A Diverse Workforce

Lots of over 50’s want to work, but can’t find a job because of employers being ageist. So it is important to remember that it’s skills, ability to do the job and experience that you should be basing your decision on rather than age, which could require a major cultural change in the business world.

You may even benefit from having some older members on your workforce, including reduced staff turnover, higher morale, lower recruitment costs, better productivity and increased profits.

At the end of the day, it is stereotypes that hold people back from employing a younger or older person. But it is time to realise that someone over 50 are past it, and younger employees are too young to be responsible.

In some respects, the current economic crisis is helping reduce ageism in the workplace, as many employers realise it’s skills they need most from their employees.

Employers are now admitting that by increasing the age diversity in their workplace, can make the whole team feel motivated, reliable and relaxed, and gives a mix of experience, flexibility, enthusiasm and ideas.

Top Tips

Also, don’t be one of those businesses that claims age diversity is a good thing to have in a business, then not have time to do anything about it in your company. Here are some tips to make sure you’re not making excuses:

1) Don’t age limit adverts. This includes using words like ‘young’ or ‘mature’
2) When using an interview panel, include as much age diversity among interviewers as possible
3) Try not to think about their age, but be more objective and think about their measureable performance and proven potential
4) Offer employees of all ages a chance to train and develop, encouraging younger and older workers who may be reluctant.
5) When it comes to redundancies, again, be objective and relate your decision to job-related criteria. Operating a last-in-first-out or making all employees over a certain age redundant will just lead to a loss of skills and knowledge in your workforce.
6) Finally, be flexible with retirement options. Offer pert-time work, reduced hours or reduced responsibilities.

What Do You Think?

Is age discrimination in the workplace an issue? Are the age discrimination laws realistic? Do you have any other tips for employers? Comment here.

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