In Ukraine, it is prohibited by law to limit the age of a future employee during employment. But thousands of companies still voice the wish “up to 45 years”. And this is in the context of a record personnel shortage, when there is a critical shortage of workers.
Ageism distorts the situation, discriminates against almost the largest group of the population, hinders economic development and brings losses to everyone. How employers break the law and what you should know.
“Spoiled” employers
On the websites of large recruitment portals you can find hundreds of age-restricted advertisements. Among them is a vacancy in the “Galya Baluvana” network. An OBOZ.UA journalist called the employer, who indicated the age limit of 47 years for a cook's assistant. When asked why exactly 47 years old, company representative Alexander said that they hired people over 50 years old, but it turned out that this was too hard work for them.
When the journalist asked whether there were any young people who responded to the vacancy, but after several days of intensive work refused the offer, Alexander confirmed that there were such applicants. That is, it is hard work for young people too. That is, there were both young people who refused vacancies due to heavy workload, and employees over 50 years old who could not cope. However, Alexander, instead of reconsidering the distribution of work, the length of the working day, or automating some of the processes, decided that the problem was with those over 50.
After clarifying questions, Alexander added that the woman, who was over 50 years old, had problems with blood pressure and it seemed that she even ended up in the hospital after working with him.
Such a restriction in a vacancy is undisguised and illegal discrimination, but the employer has not changed his point of view: those over 47 years old are asked “not to waste their time.”
Working in the kitchen is, of course, hard, but it is as difficult at 48 years old as it is at 25. Stamina, attentiveness, etc. are much more important criteria. Showing seemingly concern when the employer “protects the health” of the employee, but in reality is sure that after 47 the person’s performance will decrease, and is ageism.
The journalist called several dozen employers who indicated age restrictions in their advertisements. We are talking about offers for bartenders, administrators, foremen, assistants, salespeople, call center operators, etc. Some employers are looking for employees under 30 years of age. Among them are hotels in the Carpathians. Most refused to communicate with the journalist on this topic.
However, several companies stated that they had incorrectly indicated age restrictions and were in fact ready to consider applicants of any age group. A representative of Gold Master (they posted a vacancy for a wax mold maker) assured OBOZ.UA that after the start of a full-scale war, they stopped setting restrictions for candidates: they hire veterans, displaced people, and pensioners. Although at the time of the conversation there was still a vacancy posted with an age requirement of up to 25 years.
After talking with the journalist, the restrictions in the ad were removed. In their responses, employers repeated several stereotypes:
- older people cannot cope with the same workload as younger people;
- older people do not understand gadgets;
- older employees have a bad impact on the image of the business;
- those over 50 are more difficult to manage.
In reality, these are all outdated ideas. Pensioners can be athletic, well-groomed, and creative. And their presence among the staff of private clinics, hotels, beauty salons and the like will only attract new clients.
Although the problem in the Ukrainian labor market is much broader: not only pensioners are discriminated against. Young employees also face violations of their rights (allegedly due to lack of experience). And “old age” in the understanding of some employers occurs after 45-50. This is the age limit indicated in many advertisements.
Natalya Slinko, labor market expert and CEO of Talent Match, talks about the reasons for such ageism. First: sometimes retirees may indeed lack certain skills (for example, it may be more difficult for them to understand numerous work chats). However, this problem is not difficult to solve: conduct training for several weeks, provide time for adaptation.
The second reason is that younger managers may find it more difficult to manage older employees. However, this happens if managers do not know how to clearly set tasks, there are no specific criteria for assessing performance, etc. If a leader is always trying to be the “smartest person in the room”, leading primarily through charisma and authority, he will really have a hard time. But in this case, you need to learn as a leader, and not make ageism part of the company’s policy.
How to deal with ageist employers
Slinko advises: “If you witness ageism and you have the opportunity to screen, record, document and send complaints to the State Labor Service.” The expert is sure that ageism must be fought, including using such methods.
The editors contacted the State Labor Service. “Of course, indicating age restrictions in advertisements is illegal, it violates rights, you can’t do that,” explained the State Labor expert. However, when asked whether the department accepts complaints, the official explained: there is now a moratorium on inspections, so the only option is to sue.
That is, in order to protect his rights, an unemployed person needs to find money for a lawyer, file a lawsuit and wait several years for compensation (if there is any). Deputy Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions Alexander Shubin notes that trade unions can help write a statement to the court and provide consultations.
Shubin is confident that due to the shortage of personnel and changes in the situation on the labor market, sooner or later employers will be forced to hire pensioners and abandon ageism. However, this process can be lengthy.
“Our supervisory body is the State Labor Service. Indeed, there is a moratorium on inspections during martial law. However, even without a moratorium on inspections, there is a certain problem with the sanctions that can be applied to employers who indicate an age limit in vacancies. Moreover, Ukrainian legislation does not contain sanctions for vacancies in violation of general legal requirements.
He is also confident that employers should be influenced by the state, civil society, and employee representatives (trade unions). If you see that an employer discriminates against employees over 45 years of age, you should think several times about whether to take such a job.
