When you decide that it’s time to hire a new employee, you may decide that it would help to have someone who recently graduated from college. Say you have a tech company or at least need to hire someone for a tech position. You assume that recent graduates were just trained on the newest tech and are the most up-to-date.
If you advertise for the position and say that you want to hire recent college graduates, though, you could face some backlash. Why is this a problem when you’re just trying to be honest about the type of employee you’d like to hire?
Discriminating against older workers
The trouble is that some workers seek wording like this to be discriminatory. Generally speaking, “recent grads” are going to be in their early to mid-20s. You could be discriminating against those who are over 40 years of age, which is illegal, by making them feel like they can’t apply for the job. They see your use of the term “recent graduates” as a way to disguise age discrimination.
Now, you may not have intended to do this, but words carry a lot of weight. They have power behind the intended scope. An older employee with all of the right skills and experience may feel that they were never given a fair shot to prove what they could do since they graduated from college a decade or more prior to the other applicants.
What if you face these allegations?
It’s clearly wise to consider your wording in advance. If a misunderstanding leads to serious allegations, though, be sure you are aware of the legal options you have. Defending your company’s interests is an ongoing process, and it pays to be proactive. An attorney can often be an invaluable resource for your team.
