Adam, a 36 year old specialist IT engineer applied for a job with a recruitment agency and was told, “I didn’t forward your application to the short-list because in the past, this employer has been burned by employing mature applicants”. Adam made a complaint and accepted a $1500 compensation settlement from the recruitment agent.
Do you think people are not getting the job because they are too old? What is too old? Is 60 too old? What about 50? 35? What happened to “the best person for the job?”
A recent report by National Seniors Australia (2011), “The elephant in the room-Age discrimination in employment”, gives examples of people, including Adam, saying they were not offered a job because they were “too old” and wouldn’t “fit in with the young staff”.
Since when was growing older and “wiser” a bad thing? Some people might think that some jobs have a “use by date” and when you reach a certain age there are some jobs you should just not be doing. Other people may think that discrimination is a fact of life, it happens all the time and so what’s the big deal?!
The big deal is, age discrimination is unlawful and is protected under the law.
Unless an employer can prove that a person’s age is relevant to their ability to carry out the job, then employers or their representatives can expect a complaint from people like Adam for age discrimination and pay compensation for their unlawful behaviour.
