What To Do About Age Discrimination In The Workplace

What to do about age discrimination depends on which side of it you are standing.

If it happened to you. Write down what was said or done, when, and who was there, on the day rather than later. Keep the job advertisement, the email, the selection outcome. Raise it internally in writing with someone not involved, and ask for a specific outcome rather than only describing the problem. Note that complaint pathways have time limits and some are short, so get advice early rather than after the internal process runs its course.

If you are the employer. Deal with the individual matter properly, then fix the thing that produced it. Review your advertisement wording, your shortlisting filters and your redundancy criteria for anything that tracks age without naming it. Refresh the training and keep the completion record.

The Fair Work Ombudsman covers the general protections and the Australian Human Rights Commission handles complaints under the Age Discrimination Act. This is general information rather than legal advice.

See Sentrient’s equal employment opportunity course and workplace compliance courses.