In Canada I’ve heard so many people say that their promotions stopped after 45 years of age and they are well educated and current? Is it legal for companies to practice ageism?
Legally speaking, according to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, promotion discrimination is forbidden. An employer has the right to promote or not to promote someone. However, the reason for doing so must be legal. If the employer has discriminatory reasons for demoting or not accepting the promotion, such as the employee’s 1. gender 2. religion 3. beliefs 4. race and colour 5. physical and mental disability 6. age 7. health 8. pregnancy 9. ethnicity, the employee has the right to claim damages.
Section 15(1) of the Charter carries an equality clause which says: “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability” (emphasis added). But totally, age discrimination is not considered severe as other forms of it in any place, so as in employment and workplace.
Everybody over 18 has the right to be offered the exact chances in employment. Nobody can deny you job training or a promotion or even be forced to retire because of your age. Ten provinces and three regions in Canada have legislation designed to ensure the equality of its people.
Canada’s provisions prohibiting age discrimination are based on the character of Rights and Freedom, which applies to all jurisdictions and governments entities. The federal government and all provinces and regions contain anti-discriminatory legislation against age. Each jurisdiction has a human rights statute that prohibits discrimination based on age. As mentioned above, it refers to everybody over 18.
Employers may not, directly and indirectly, reference age in the job advertisement. The application form should not age questions related to age, and also, during an interview, they cannot ask any questions about your age. Employers cannot limit employment opportunities such as transfer, promotion, and training. Employers aren’t allowed to lay off someone because of age.
It’s illegal to practice age discrimination, just as it’s illegal to practice gender or race discrimination, but it goes on all the time and is hard to prove. In some sectors, it even starts at 35. Canadians are sometimes oblivious to it. They love the idea that the country is rated high for anti-corruption and banking to believe that many people have to sign confidentiality agreements and cannot publicly talk about age discrimination.
