Our careers provide us with a sense of fulfillment and stability. Many of us have jobs we enjoy and plan on staying at until we retire.
Therefore, it can be disheartening to suddenly find yourself being treated differently. You may wonder if you have done something wrong and be confused if there appears to be no reason for the negative treatment.
You might be a victim of age discrimination. This may come as a surprise, especially if you have been working for your employer for a long time and have a good relationship with your managers.
But how do you know if it is age discrimination? Here are some signs to watch for.
Replacing older workers with younger workers
Older workers being terminated, laid off or offered an incentive to leave, only to be replaced by younger workers doing the exact same job is a common sign of age discrimination.
The incentive here for employers is that they can often pay younger workers a lower wage for doing the same job. Older workers typically get paid more due to their many years of working for the employer.
Other signs of age discrimination are more subtle. You might start getting more work or being assigned undesirable tasks to get you to quit or retire.
Lower performance reviews and elimination of bonuses or raises are other signs of potential age discrimination, especially if there appears to be no legitimate reason.
If you have always had good yearly reviews and suddenly have a bad one when nothing has changed about your job performance, this could be a sign that your employer is trying to quietly let you go sometime soon.
Inappropriate questions about your retirement
Pay attention to any comments made about your age. Jokes or brief comments about getting older are sometimes common among colleagues who have worked together for a long time. However, a boss should not start asking about your retirement plans.
It can be difficult to know if what you’re experiencing is age discrimination or normal workplace issues. Talking with a professional can help you determine what is truly going on.