Age
Do you know your rights?
Did you know that in certain situations, such as at work, the law says that you can’t be treated less favourably, or put at a disadvantage, because you are a certain age, or in a particular age group? This is because Age is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.
This unfair treatment is called discrimination.There are several types of discrimination, including direct and indirect discrimination.
Direct discrimination is when you are treated worse than someone who is a different age to you. For instance, if you were refused a promotion at work because your employer thought you were too young, or your employer said you were too old for particular training that is necessary for promotion.
Indirect discrimination is when an arrangement that affects everyone has an unfair effect on some people because of their age. For instance, if a company gives workers with twenty years service an extra week’s holiday, they would be discriminating against workers who are too young to have worked for the company for twenty years.
People can be treated differently because of their age where there is a good reason to do so, such as for an actor playing a young role in a film, or when a job would be too physically demanding for older people.
It’s important to know and understand equality law, but it can be complex.