Age Discrimination

I have recently watched a series about age discrimination. The title of the series is Age Harassment. Age Harassment drama series is a Japanese series with 9 episodes only. It demonstrated what’s ageism is, how does it effect on individual employee and how to fight against it. The series is based from novel Eiji Harasumento by Makiko Uchidate and was published July 28, 2008 by Gentosha Inc.

Today, I would like to discuss some of the facts about this Age Discrimination and my thoughts about it.

Age Discrimination happens a lot of times in a workplace. And maybe all of us knew why.
“Workplace fairness” who wouldn’t like that? I think all of us would really like to work in a workplace where we really feel that we belong and where everyone demonstrates respect.
Company actually requires to treat their employees equally despite the prevailing situation. In some countries, they are taking legal actions when it comes to age discrimination in a workplace but some of them would just tolerate this type of practices.

Ageism is about out casting and discriminating individuals or groups on the basis of their age. Age discrimination in a workplace includes favouritism when it comes to joining a group/club. Favouritism and unfavourable comparisons. Passed over for promotion. Not accepting young applicants due to job hopper assumption. Not accepting applicants due to their age and not fit in to work with other employees. Disqualifying old applicants due to early retirement issue and not giving training opportunities for young or old employees.

There are some typical events where we can say that an employee is a victim of age discrimination. Unwelcome comments. Sometimes our boss will throw jokes with amusing manner about getting older. If that incident is repeatedly happened to you and it results to a feeling of uncomfortable working and quitting, it can be a form of harassment.

Based from the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) outlaws age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both workers are age 40 or older.

The law prohibits discrimination in any aspect of employment and that includes hiring, firing, pay, job responsibilities, promotions, layoff, training, benefits, and any other terms or conditions of employment.

Age discrimination may be hard to identify or prove but all you need to do is to be sure and take note of your evidences.
And here are some of the countries who have anti-ageism laws:

AMERICAS

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Dominican Republic
• Guatemala
• Mexico
• Panama
• Peru
• USA
• Venezuela

ASIA PACIFIC

• Australia
• China
• Hong Kong
• New Zealand
• India
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Thailand

MIDDLE EAST

• Egypt
• UAE

AFRICA

• Mauritius
• Nigeria

EUROPE

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Slovakia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• Ukraine

It may be hard to win an age discrimination case but it’s not impossible.
I've also searched some of the latest international news about age discrimination:

• In the US, A Federal Jury has awarded $51.5M for age discrimination.
• A Missouri woman has won $20M in an age discrimination claim.
• In Australia, employing older workers could deliver $78BN in economic gains.
• In Finland, nearly 350, 000 have experienced age discrimination at work.
• Age discrimination will be banned under new Philippines law.
• A Study: World’s best place to be old is Switzerland.

Discriminating and harassing applicants, employees or co employees are unlawful acts. Harasser can be your immediate supervisors, your co-workers, your clients or customers and it is really unlawful to harass a person just because of his or age. Every employee needs to be treated equally. Here are some of the easiest ways to overcome and fight against ageism:

Speak up - Don’t be afraid to say something. Defend yourself by saying what you really feel and how does it affect you.

Engage in the world - Be present and stay active all the time. Learn to engage with other employees, talk to them and learn to adopt changes.

Be positive and show enthusiasm – Be positive at all times and don’t overthink.

Volunteer – Share your thoughts and ideas. Join in any fun activities.

Be professional – Show that you’re well-disciplined and treat people with respect.

Sharpen your skills – Get some training opportunities. Update skills and learn new things.

Be physically and mentally fit – Exercise, maintain healthy habits and feel good.
Put in to your mind that your age is an advantage and not an obstacle to your carrier.

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Age Discrimination is for me, a considered Harrasment.