Am I in danger of being Ageist?

Dis86 · 12 Jul 2021 at 18:41

Hades said:
I don't disagree.

It's your business to employ who you choose. But given the question of whether it is age discrimination then yes it is discrimination. Would the candidate find out? Very unlikely. Could the candidate claim compensation if they did? Probably.

The point is that I'm not saying no because of their age. I'm saying no because of the physical degradation associated with their age.
Something that is an immutable fact of life.

Dis86 · 12 Jul 2021 at 18:57

Hades said:
I'm sorry you don't like the answer. You also don't need to convince me, a random person on the internet, who would be better for your business. Employ who you want or feel most suitable for the job. Just don't tell the candidate that it's in any way related to age otherwise it could backfire because, if that is the only reason, then is is illegal. But that's your decision to take.

https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights

It's not a question of liking the answer. What's protected is a single quality. I'm not saying that quality is a problem, I'm saying a characteristic associated with that is the problem.

In the same way a male underwear model wouldn't be very useful if they were a woman.

Dis86 · 12 Jul 2021 at 19:08

Hades said:
OK then, re-advertise the job exactly as you have done but add "Only candidates under 40 years old (or whatever you decide) will be considered for the role". Have a guess what will happen?

But that's not what we're saying. People under 40 could be physically incapable of it.

Dis86 · 12 Jul 2021 at 21:13

dowie said:
Well you’d get a better idea of those probabilities if you tested them. Suppose the younger guy turns up and is a fat lad or regularly has issues with asthma etc… and didn’t declare that.

I mean if you test them an all goes well the younger guy should perform better then you can hire on the basis of the test, it might however turn out the younger guy is unfit and one of the older guys is in prime physical health still. My dad’s in his 70s for example, only recently retired but easily fitter than the average British male 30 years younger than him. Average adult in the UK is fat and barely exercises.

That's the point, we also wouldn't choose someone who is obviously unfit.