also sprach Jurij Smakov <jurij@wooyd.org> [2008.11.26.1039 +0100]:
> Sorry, but I'm with Wolfgang on this one. I'm pretty sure that this
> "standard practice" is illegal in most of EU countries (judging by
> existence of EU directive 2000/78/EC) and in the US, and I would
> expect similar laws to exist in any country to be considered
> civilized.
Please get a grip. The directive you quote states
Member States may provide that differences of treatment on grounds
of age shall not constitute discrimination, if, within the context
of national law, they are objectively and reasonably justified by
a legitimate aim, including legitimate employment policy, labour
market and vocational training objectives, and if the means of
achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.
Such differences of treatment may include, among others:
(a) the setting of special conditions on access to employment
and vocational training, employment and occupation,
including dismissal and remuneration conditions, for young
people, older workers and persons with caring responsibili-
ties in order to promote their vocational integration or
ensure their protection;
(b) the fixing of minimum conditions of age, professional
experience or seniority in service for access to employment
or to certain advantages linked to employment;
(c) the fixing of a maximum age for recruitment which is
based on the training requirements of the post in question
or the need for a reasonable period of employment before
retirement.
If there were a country that required me to hire people
independently of age, I'd surely take my business elsewhere. You may
be 70 and capable to do a job which required me to invest 2 years
into you, but the chance of you waking up dead is far higher than of
a 30-year-old. Plain fact, no discrimination. This is the business
world, where concepts like return-of-investment are paramount, and
the RoI of a 70-year-old, as good as s/he may be, is just nowhere
near that of a younger applicant.
Note how the job description doesn't say "we don't want old farts"
or discriminated in any way. In fact, it nicely informs you about
the requirement the company has, instead of e.g. looking at
someone's application and turning him/her down for a fake reason to
cover up the age.
Discrimination is a trendy word which bites, because it's been
hammered upon us by the media and politicians to the point of no
return, has completely lost its meaning, and has managed to cause
serious damage to such things as tolerance and sensible judgement.
Please don't succomb to this trend. It blurs your vision and
prevents you from identifying and properly reacting to real
instances of discrimination.
> It's pretty unfortunate that Switzerland does not have any law in
> place preventing age discrimination.
It's pretty fortunate that Switzerland doesn't blindly follow
everything the EU does.
--
.''`. martin f. krafft <madduck@debian.org>
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