June 01, 2019
Ageism at Work Doesn’t Work!
Earlier this year, the U.S. EEOC published its charge statistics for FY 2018. The report showed age discrimination charges increased to 22.1% from 20.8% the prior year. In June, Hiscox a global specialist insurer published, “Ageism in the Workplace Study.” What are some highlights from the study?
- 67% of surveyed workers aged 40-65 plan to continue to work after they turn 66
- Men report feeling impacted by age discrimination more than women
- It’s not just employers. Older workers report feeling stereotyped by their younger coworkers.
- Many employers provide harassment prevention training. But, 62% of survey respondents reported receiving no age discrimination training in
the previous 12 months.
And, consider these recent, related headlines:
- September 10th – EEOC sues employer alleging failure to rehire and terminating older workers
- September 26th – EEOC sues an employer alleging the Company fired a quaified employee because she was too old
- September 18th – EEOC sues another Company alleging they told an applicant she was too old
- September 6th – EEOC sues an employer for allegedly firing a whistleblower in retaliation for the employee’s reporting age discrimination
Is there any good news? The percentage of “No Reasonable Cause” determinations (that’s a good finding the for the employer) issued by the EEOC in age-related charges has increased over the last five years. So, maybe employers are going a better job of not discriminating based on age.
What else? For more information, click here to check out the archived version of FiveL’s September webcast, “The Changing Face of Age Discrimination: Today and Tomorrow.” It still provides certified HR Pros with 1.25 credits; $25 pp.