When posting a vacancy, the employer usually indicates the expected age of the employee. Young people and persons of pre-retirement age are much less likely to get the desired position than their fellow citizens 25-40 years old, since they are hired much less willingly.
How legal is the age restriction when applying for a job?
Perhaps the potential leader himself is quite young and is looking for an appropriate team for himself. Or does not take older people because of their reduced ability to work. It is easier for a young person to get a job, because the lack of skills is compensated by activity, a desire to study and advance in the service. In the United States, a law has been passed to prevent age discrimination in hiring. According to him, the age should not be indicated in the vacancy announcement, and even during the interview, the employer has no right to ask the candidate questions about his age. European countries support this trend.
There is no separate law in Russia, however, the Constitution states in general terms that everyone has the right to work, without any discrimination. The Labor Code states that “no one can be restricted in labor rights and freedoms … regardless of gender, race, skin color, nationality, language, origin, property, social and official status, age, place of residence, attitude to religion, political convictions, belonging or not belonging to public associations, as well as from other circumstances not related to the business qualities of the employee."
In other words, age discrimination is also prohibited in Russia. As an exception, there are professions for which the requirement of a certain age and state of health is justified. These are employees of special services and law enforcement agencies, cosmonauts, rescuers, train drivers, pilots, etc. In other cases, age restriction is considered discrimination and may be a reason for going to the labor inspectorate or directly to the court. In practice, alas, it is not so easy. By age, they refuse verbally, and the basis for initiating a case is a written refusal, in which the age is named in black and white as the reason for the rejection of the candidacy. Naturally, no personnel officer in his right mind will give such a certificate.
How can age restrictions be justified?
The only adequate excuse for an employer who refuses a person over 40-45 years old is that work requires great physical endurance, and at an older age people are rarely capable of agility. Although most often the reasons for refusal are the youth of the boss or the rest of the team. Like, an older person will not be able to fit into the company. In fact, of course, this is not always the case, it all depends on the psychological characteristics of the employee.
