I have a friend who recently got laid off from a job she’s been doing for the past 25 years. She’s five years away from retiring and she feels that she’s psychologically (and physically) nowhere near taking this big step. She also needs money because her severance package albeit solid, won’t cover some of the medical bills she’s accrued due to her daughter’s chronic illness.
She was trying to apply to different jobs but she felt that she was being discriminated against because of her age. Recently, during an interview she was asked if she could handle the job since the job involved knowledge of computers and being active in social media. She was asked if she was familiar with Twitter. My friend has been very active on Twitter for the past few years and she was stunned by the employer’s assumption that she wouldn’t even know what it was because she’s older. According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s policy on discrimination against older workers because of age, “Demonstrating that age was directly or indirectly a factor in a hiring decision can be challenging. Employers rarely state that age was the reason for not giving an applicant the job. However, the following considerations may suggest that age was a factor in not hiring an applicant: The employer indicated qualifications at any stage of the recruitment process which can reasonably be interpreted as a euphemism for age. …”
My friend has also been turned away as well because she was considered to be “overqualified,” which can also be deemed as discriminatory according to the OHRC.
Fortunately, my friend found a part-time job and is taking on some consulting work, which she’s doing via the Internet because, she jokes, the online world is the great equalizer, and you can’t even tell she’s in her late 50s by what she frequently posts on Twitter.
PS: Based in Ontario? Please check out the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to see how you can file a complaint if you think you’re being discriminated against.