Harassment related to age

Discrimination and harassment on grounds of age applies at both ends of the age scale, although the BIS Fair treatment at work Age Report 2010 found higher levels of reported discrimination amongst those aged 16-24 than amongst those aged over 60.

A 2009 survey by public services union UNISON found that more than a third of young women were being bullied at work. This led to the launch of its Bully Busters campaign with Company magazine. Two-thirds of those bullied in the preceding six months reported that the bullying behaviour was on-going and that the most common bully was an older woman in a more senior professional position. The most common bullying behaviour included excessive monitoring and criticism, isolation or exclusion, intimidation, unrealistic targets, public humiliation and insulting jokes, malicious rumours and withholding information needed to get the job done.

The campaign called on the government to revive plans (since abandoned) for a Dignity in the Workplace Bill to create a separate statutory right not to be bullied. The use of unpaid internship, the growth of insecure models of employment and the competition for entry-level posts in the current economic climate places many young people at even greater risk of workplace bullying.

There were 6,800 claims of age discrimination accepted by the employment tribunal in 2010-11, of which 35% were conciliated by Acas. The median award was £12,697.