Discrimination based on age is common. Many older workers are mistreated and ridiculed for their ages. They are faced with workplace harassment and wrongful termination as well. Furthermore, older workers get pressured by their employers and colleagues into early retirement as well. This kind of disparity is detrimental to a company’s growth and is morally wrong.
The older generation of employees brings a lot of talent and skills to the workforce. If you are a victim of such discrimination, consult an employment attorney New Jersey to seek legal help.
However, employers can follow these tips to ensure equality and avoid age-based discrimination in their workplace.
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Try to focus on maintaining diversity in your workforce.
Most of the time, people responsible for the hiring process tend to choose people who are just like them. They may do it subconsciously or even intentionally. This bias prevents hiring qualified and competent employees regardless of age, gender, sex, etc. The prime requirement of an employee is to work as per the needs of the job instead of fitting into the social circle.
Make sure that no such disparity and partiality takes place in your workforce. Cross-check your hiring manager’s tendencies towards rejecting candidates and confront them if they have a pattern of disqualifying people above a certain age regardless of their qualifications. This helps to ensure skill-based employment and reduces age-based discrimination.
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Fairly curate your job descriptions.
While adding a description of a job role, be careful of the words you may end up using. When you are mentioning the soft skills needed for selection, words like young, fresh, etc., can come off as discriminatory and imply that people young in age are preferred more for the job. Doing so suggests that older individuals are discouraged from applying to that role.
Instead of them, you can use words like hard-working or dedicated. Those words focus on a person’s skills and work ethic without focusing on their age.
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Retirement.
Avoid presuming that an employee of a certain age is ready for retirement. People tend to retire later than the social security age if the jobs do not require as much physical labor. Along with that, do not ask or force an employee into retirement. It is entirely up to their wishes.
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Create an inclusive work environment.
Avoid any stereotypes, like assuming older employees will not be able to handle new technology trends. It is entirely wrong, and doing so can promote discrimination. Senior employees tend to enjoy challenges, and despite their initial struggle, most end up succeeding in using new technology.
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Work on your company’s policies.
Your company should be completely intolerant of discrimination and harassment on any grounds. Your workers must be aware of the guidelines set by you and the repercussions of going against them.