When working, you have an obligation to not be age discriminatory towards any job applicants or colleagues. This applies to everyone in the workforce, regardless of position. Here we are discussing points on how to prevent age discrimination in the workplace.
Preventing Age Discrimination In The Workplace
To prevent workplace age discrimination, there are many things which you can do to help improve your company. From training and educating to vocabulary and job descriptions, we have covered everything you need to know to maintain a diverse, fair workplace.
Educate Managers and Recruiters
It’s important to ensure that all managers and recruiters are fully aware of the equal opportunities procedure as well as your organisation’s policy. Not only this, but make it known that it’s also now unlawful to set a compulsory retirement age unless it can be justified specifically. This prevents ageism coming into play and can save a lot of money in the long run too.
Avoid Judging By Length Of Experience
When recruiting, it’s important to not judge applicants solely on their length of experience as to not indirectly discriminate against younger people. Instead, best practices should include making informed decisions based on candidates knowledge, skills, abilities and overall understanding of the role.
Provide Training
Emphasising personal responsibility for preventing age discrimination is paramount. If you don’t have a specialist to hand who is able to train staff, hire one for a session teaching all of your staff the importance of noticing discrimination, how to properly report it as well as how to generally prevent it from happening in your workplace.
Be Mindful Of Language
Not only is this relevant to your choice of spoken vocabulary within the workplace, but also which words you use on job descriptions. Opting to switch words such as ‘fresh’ or ‘young’ for ‘driven’ or ‘motivated’ is a good starting point – it’s now more important than ever to ensure that nobody feels discriminated against.
Reward On Performance
Rather than rewarding promotions and bonuses based on age and length of service with the company, ensure to always reward based on performance alone. By doing things this way, you can be sure that nobody will feel discriminated against for their age. You should also make sure that all educational and training programmes are available to all staff, regardless of age or skill level, giving everyone an equal opportunity to thrive.
Maintain A Multi-Generational Workforce
Aiming to hire applicants from multiple generations is a great way to ensure that your workplace isn’t discriminatory of age. Of course, it is still important to provide training and education for your staff, focusing on the other key points mentioned above, but this will help to keep the balance.
When you feel as though you have been discriminated against for your age, it can be very disheartening. However, do not let it get the best of you. If you feel you have been affected, you can contact us via our online form here at Beeston Shenton Solicitors for expert advice.
