Discrimination on the Basis of Age

Direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and incitement to discriminate on the grounds of age shall be prohibited in all areas of public law and in areas such as:

• employment (including access to information on vacancies; selection criteria for recruitment and recruitment process itself; promotion; working conditions; remuneration; termination of employment);
• carrying out a scientific activity;
• choice of profession;
• vocational training (including retraining, upskilling and practical work experience);
• membership of professional organisations or trade unions;
• protection of rights and legitimate interests;
• advertising.

In the working environment, differential treatment according to the age of the employee is permissible only if a certain age is an objective and justified precondition for the performance of the relevant work or the relevant occupation. For example, in the work of the armed forces, in order to maintain their combat capabilities, selection of applicants on the basis of age is permissible. Nor can the setting of a retirement age be regarded as discriminatory. Discrimination will occur, for example, by requiring all candidates to sit an English language test if this foreign language is not related to the performance of the duties, as it would potentially exclude the elderly.