The Norwegian Labor Inspectorate was to hire a new inspector. The choice was between a 55-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man. Both people have bachelor's degrees, but the woman had longer professional experience.
A 55-year-old woman did not get a job and was discriminated against because of her age, according to a decision of the Discrimination Tribunal.
- The woman was 55 at the time of submitting the application, while the person who took the position was much younger. She must therefore necessarily have had a longer general work experience. She also seems to be very well qualified for the position. Her education and professional experience had far corresponded to all the requirements and wishes of the Office in the announcement, writes the tribunal in its ruling.
- Looking at her education and experience contrary to the requirements and wishes contained in the advertisement, she seems in the opinion of the tribunal to be better qualified than the opposing candidate who has been given the post, concludes the Discrimination Tribunal.
Norwegian Labor Inspectorate usually supervises others. Now they themselves have been convicted of violating the Work Environment Act.
They must pay compensation of NOK 45 to a woman who has been discriminated against because of her age.
- We take seriously the fact that someone who was with us in the recruitment process feels that they are discriminated against. Speaking Department Director Ronny Jørgenvåg at the Organization Department of the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate.
He says the audit takes the employer's responsibility very seriously.
- In this case, the Discrimination Tribunal found that we cannot sufficiently document that there is no age discrimination. We take note of this decision and in parallel with this, we reviewed and assessed our internal recruitment guidelines, says Jørgenvåg.
- A little scandal
I jumped a little in my chair when I read the decision. Here the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate has lost and has to pay 45 in compensation, it is not a matter of files, says Kari Østerud, director of the Center for Senior Policy.
"I would say it's a little scandal," says Østerud.
Statistics from the Center for Senior Policy show that managers will hesitate to call on qualified applicants when the applicant is over 58 years old. This may indicate systematic age discrimination in working life.
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"The older you get, the harder it is to get a new job," says the senior policy director.
- According to Nav, people over 55 spend significantly more time getting a new job than younger people, and many never get a job and disappear from the statistics, says Østerud.
Still believes that jobseekers are rarely discriminated against on the basis of their age, complains about the incident. This makes the decision of the Discrimination Tribunal even more surprising.
