Examples Of Age Discrimination In Employment

The clearest examples of age discrimination in employment begin before anyone is hired, in the wording of the advertisement.

• Digital native, energetic, recent graduate. Each codes for age without stating it.
• Maximum experience limits. Asking for two to three years and screening out anyone with more.
• Culture fit language. Young dynamic team, or references to social activities that signal an age group.
• Graduation year fields. Requiring dates that reveal age when the qualification itself is what matters.

These are the most fixable examples because they sit in a document you control completely, and they are usually copied forward rather than chosen.

Later-stage examples are harder to evidence but no less common. Training withheld on the assumption someone is close to retirement, or successive restructures that consistently fall on the same age band.

The Australian Human Rights Commission covers age discrimination. This is general information rather than legal advice.

See Sentrient’s EEO training course and workplace policy templates.