Ageism at Work
November 7, 2024
Workplace ageism is discriminatory behavior directed at an employee because of a perception that the person is either too old or too young to be the best fit for the job. Ageism is based on prejudice and stereotyping found in various aspects of our culture, especially clichéd media portrayals of different age groups.
The American Psychological Association characterized ageism against older employees as “the last socially acceptable prejudice.” Although workers over forty have long been protected from age discrimination by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, thousands of age discrimination claims by older workers have since been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), costing U.S. organizations millions of dollars to resolve. Ageism toward older employees, while always demoralizing, can be expressed in different ways. It can range from lower compensation to an assumption that an older employee is no longer up for taking on as much responsibility as a younger coworker to jokingly referring to an older employee as “Gramps.”
Younger workers often suffer as much or more unfair treatment when it comes to wages and benefits as older employees. For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows employers to pay employees who are under twenty years of age less than minimum wage for the first 90 calendar days of their employment. And some employers contribute a much smaller percentage of employee salaries to the retirement accounts of younger employees. Younger employees are, like older ones, often subjected to inappropriate and disheartening comments such as “You’ll understand what I’m talking about after you become a grown-up.” Although ageism toward younger workers is not prohibited by federal legislation, fifteen states plus the District of Columbia have enacted laws that offer the same protections against age discrimination to younger workers that benefit older workers. It’s important to learn if your state is one of them.
Both older and younger workers often find themselves at a disadvantage when competing in the job market. Whether confronting assumptions of inexperience, an inability to learn new skills, less interest in long-term employment with one organization, or the desire to take early retirement, older and younger workers face many generational stereotypes and thus more challenges when job hunting.
Despite today’s emphasis on fairness in the workplace, it still seems at times that ageism goes unrecognized for the discrimination that it is. Organization policy that spells out standards and expectations of inclusiveness and respect, including for employees across the age spectrum, helps create a respectful workplace culture that affords opportunity to everyone, from youngest to oldest. It encourages all employees to contribute and to feel that they are as much a part of the organization as anyone, regardless of age. Explicitly taking a stand against age discrimination provides benefits for both individuals and organizations that we shouldn’t ignore.