Age Discrimination Laws -will they work ??

peter999

I think Age Discrimination in jobseeking & workplace is endemic & part of culture.

How can employers be stopped from Age Discrimination when they can
often work out old someone is from their CV ??

The jobseeker usually doesn't receive reply, so never has any concrete proof
age discrimination has occurred.

Will new Age Discrimination laws starting in October really work ??

peter999

scatz

Good point, maybe this law will only really benefit those that are already in employment! I read somewhere that some bloke was made redundant because of his age and was also, therefore, unable to appeal the decision under 'unfair dismissal'. If anyone were in this position after 01/10 then they would have the right to appeal under the new laws.

Astaroth

It will work as well as it does for all the other current anti-discrimination law - people can often work out applicants sex and ethnic origin from CVs too.

I would imagine for smaller companies then what happens now will simply continue for new applicants - as you say it is almost impossible for someone to prove that they didnt get a job because they are black/ female/ old/ gay etc

For larger companies it will probably result in some element of possitive discrimination to make sure they have their "quota" and so can continue to claim to be an equal opportunities employer.

I think at some point there has to be a general acceptance that discrimination will always exist and thats just how life is. 12 months ago I was job hunting and was contacted by a recruitment agency that specialised in both my fields of expertise and had what sounded like a great job which they were proactively looking for someone to fill the post. I went down to their offices to find out more about the job and which company it would be for (turned out to be a Lloyds Syndicate insurer). As soon as they saw me (28, male, long hair) they said that they knew I was exactly the sort of person the company was looking for and whilst they would put me forward to the company if I wanted they knew I wouldnt get the job because the company only employed people with a "traditional" image - ie my long hair would have ment I wouldnt get the job.

Broken_hearted

Easy answer is it won't, the same as sex discrimination and disability discrimination laws don't work.

saintjanet

As a matter of interest there is another thread about this on the discussion forum.

hjb123

Yeah I dont think that it will work that much - its a bit like if you think a company has breeched the law then you have to prove it - and how do you do that?!

I read somewhere not long since that some places were going to stop asking for date of birth on application forms (think Asda might have been one of them) - thats all well and good but they will be able to tell from the replies and also from experience a rough age.

Astaroth

At the end of the day, no matter what legislation is in place if a manager recruiting for a PA wants a 18-25 year old attractive female that is what he will get.

I guess the other question that needs to be asked is if you dont fit to the departments mould would you really want to work there anyway? With my previous example, I am not sure that I would want to work for a company/ group of people that is so old fashioned that male + long hair = bad thing.