As the majority of the population is getting older, age discrimination is becoming much more prevalent in the workplace. You may have recently seen management force one of your colleagues into retirement, or maybe you heard a story about another friend in the Houston area that did not get a job because he was not a good fit with the culture of the company. Unfortunately, there are several ways that employers can hide age discrimination in the workplace.
If you have concerns that you might be a victim of age discrimination, there are certain signs that you can look for. Read below to find out more about age discrimination indicators.
Older workers out, younger workers in
Companies often want to hire younger employees. Sometimes management will claim that they want employees that fit the “company culture.” Often, this is because those younger employees will settle for lower salaries since they do not have the years of experience that you do. If you start seeing older employees getting pushed out while new, younger employees are coming in, this might indicate there is age discrimination happening.
Change of duties
One of the tactics that companies use to “force” out older employees is to change their duties to something unpleasant or significantly beneath your abilities and experience. They do this in the hope that you will just quit and save them the trouble of firing you or asking you to retire.
Ageist comments
If people start asking you when you are going to retire or make comments about your age, this could be a sign of age discrimination. Make sure you have a response in your repertoire that not only addresses the questions or comments, but also protects you and your job. Make it very clear that you do not intend to retire any time soon and be sure there is another coworker present as a witness. In addition, you might want to consider sending an email to your boss stressing that you have no current plans to retire.
The raises stop coming
Raises are typically performance based. If a younger colleague gets a raise and you do not, it could be for another reason other than age discrimination. For example, your younger coworker may have delivered a fantastic performance that year while yours was subpar in comparison. However, if you also had a great year and did not get a raise, this could very well point to discrimination.
Age discrimination can come in many forms, however, even if it is subtle or disguised as something else, you may still have the right to fight back. If you are experiencing any of the above and believe you might the be victim of age discrimination, it might be time to take a stand and insist on your rights in the workplace.