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Age Discrimination - do you think it'll happen to you? And if so, when? And what would you do if it did?

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WideWebWitch · 20/07/2008 20:52

My step father, who is 61, has recently been asked by his employer to work a 2.5 hour commute each way away from his home. When I said "Hang on, surely that's constructive dismissal?" he said "I'm 61, what can I do? So what there's a law, won't do me any good to do anything will it?" He's not in a union, I asked. Anyway, he's decided to put up with it for now, which is sad but it made me think.

I am 41. I pretty much expect to be discriminated against on the basis of my age at some point, I've recently realised. So:

a) do you think you are or will be?
b) if not, why not?
c) if so, at what age?
d) if it happens will you take legal action?
e) if not, how will you make a living?

What are your views on this? I do think (the older I get, obviously, as it gets more pertinent) that it's MAD that we chuck people on the scrapheap before retirement. As my stepfather said "how many people in their 60s do you think YOUR company have taken on in the last year?"

(when I hire people btw, I don't discriminate on the basis of age, happily had 60something people working for me at several points in my career).

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whatdayisit · 20/07/2008 21:01

Can't answer your questions, as I don't even want to think about it TBH, but it's mad.

I ran in a 10k race today, a woman of 71 finished only a few minutes behind me (I'm late 30s) and she's sharp as a tack mentally too. Ridiculous that she's too old to work (if she wanted to, which she doesn't becasue she's far too busy )

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