Age discrimination is an increasingly serious problem

On Behalf of | Jun 20, 2014 | Workplace Discrimination

Most people in Queens know that young people, especially college graduates, are having trouble finding jobs. There are numerous reports of people working for minimum wage or in positions that do not require a college degree. But that is not the only group affected by the slowly recovering economy. Older workers are also facing unemployment and they are having a difficult time finding new jobs. For some, it is a matter of age discrimination.

As with race, national origin or gender, employers and those in charge of hiring cannot deny someone employment based on age alone. Using someone’s age against him or her is a violation of both national and state employment laws, and anyone who has been denied a position because of his or her age can file an age discrimination lawsuit.

Getting a job is a multi-step process, and only toward the end are recruiters or employers meeting applicants face to face. It is here that many aspects of age discrimination happen. Getting the interview, however, often requires a recruiter to approve a resume.

So it is resumes that many older job seekers are looking to make “younger” in an effort to increase their chances of getting hired. Many applicants will keep their education on their resumes, but will take off the years their degrees were conferred. Others will pare down their work history to only reflect the last 15 to 20 years. As long as they aren’t lying, many job coaches are fine with these creative edits.

The fact remains, however, that many of these people are being denied jobs because they are older. If there is a blatant case of age discrimination, they can work with an employment attorney to file a workplace discrimination lawsuit.

Source: International Business Times, “Facing Age Discrimination, Older Job Seekers Edit Work History And Disguise Their Ages On Resumes,” Angelo Young, June 10, 2014

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