Handling discrimination
It’s known that various types of discrimination operate in the labour market.
It can affect any of us - we all get old – and can provide an obstacle for those trying to make a career change.
UK law currently makes discrimination unlawful within six categories:
- Age
- Sex
- Race
- Disability
- Religion
- Sexual Orientation
There’s not the space here to detail the specifics of types of discrimination, but we can explore some common ways that people use to protect themselves against it or minimise its impact. Those that specialise in work in this area suggest we could all do a couple of things to minimise or counteract the effects of discrimination:
Being positive about your capabilities
This means making sure that you don’t collude with any potential discrimination by feeling that you are somehow less worthy. Always focus on competence and what you have to offer.
For example, a factor that most worries many older workers making career change is age discrimination. It’s now unlawful, but employers attitudes are known to vary widely.
Whatever anybody else thinks, it’s possible to be very positive about age. Many employers understand that age means experience, both work-specific experience and experience of life in general. Rather than wait to see what an employer thinks, you can put this message across yourself in an active way.
Knowing your rights
Each of the areas listed above has specific legislation. This may not be able to always make the right things happen, but it’s a way of discouraging discrimination and trying to address wrongs. Knowing everything about anti-discrimination law is impractical, but also unnecessary. Sometimes just showing that you know enough about it can be enough to protect yourself and put others off treating you unfairly. The laws are complicated, but are well summarised by http://www.direct.gov.uk/RightsAndResponsibilities/fs/en