Age Discrimination
Unfair treatment at work due to your age, affecting hiring, promotion, or dismissal decisions.
What is Age Discrimination
Age discrimination occurs when you're treated unfairly at work because of your age. Under the Equality Act 2010, it's illegal for UK employers to dismiss, refuse to hire, or treat employees differently based on their age. This protection applies to all employees regardless of whether they're considered "too young" or "too old" for a position.
Age discrimination can be direct (obvious unfair treatment) or indirect (policies that disproportionately affect certain age groups). Many employees don't realize they've been discriminated against, often accepting dismissal as "just business" when it's actually illegal and compensable.
Common Reasons
The most frequent age discrimination cases we see involve redundancy situations where older employees are unfairly selected despite strong performance records. Employers often use coded language like "seeking fresh ideas," "digital native required," or "looking for energetic candidates" to mask age bias.
Common scenarios include: being passed over for promotion in favor of younger colleagues with less experience, being excluded from training opportunities deemed "for the future," facing different performance standards than younger employees, or being pressured to accept early retirement. Comments about "keeping up with technology" or being "set in your ways" often indicate discriminatory attitudes.
We also see reverse age discrimination where younger employees face dismissal because they're perceived as "inexperienced" or "job hoppers," despite legal protection extending to all ages.
Your Rights and Typical Results
If you're over 40 and suspect age discrimination, you likely have a strong case. Our clients typically receive £8,000-£15,000 in compensation, with senior employees often achieving higher awards. We've secured £22,000 for a dismissed marketing director and £18,500 for a retail supervisor, both victims of age-biased redundancy processes.
Don't let employers get away with age discrimination. You have just 3 months to claim from your dismissal date.
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Frequently asked questions
