Is it legal for an employer to not hire somebody because they look too young?

Question

For example I am 19, but look 15, if I am qualified and they don't hire me because I look too young, is that discrimination?

Answer 1

I wouldn't call it discrimination, i would call it a simple judgement call. Thats what managers have to do. If they feel that your looks will not allow you to do the job at hand, then they are just doing what is best for their company. Especially if it is something in sales, law, or public relations. It doesn't matter to a customer/client, for instance, how qualified you are, if you look like you aren't old enough to know what you are doing, they won't want to do business with you. If this continues to be a problem i would suggest A) making yourself look older. Change your hair, grow facial hair (if you're boy), do makeup differently (if you're a girl). and dress VERY professionally. and B) make yourself invaluable. Make yourself look SO knowledgable and qualified that it outweighs the fact that you look like a high school kid.

and, as per the question... no it isn't legal, but proving that THAT is why they didn't hire you is close to impossible.

best of luck to you.

Answer 2

Well, every hiring decision that someone makes is discrimination. They discriminate against the lesser qualified individual or against the less articulate person or against the person who had a worse GPA. So really your question is: is this illegal discirimination.

The answer is no. There are certain qualities (race, gender, nationality, religion, etc) that an employer is not allowed to discriminate on. Youthful appearance is not one of those qualities. Age *is* one of those qualities, but the federal law protecting against age discrimination protects those who are 45+. In other words, Congress was concerned with people being disqualified because they were *too old,* not too young.

Answer 3

No, not really. First of all, you would have to prove it.
If you have legitimate papers to prove you are 19, merely 'looking young' has nothing to do with it.
During job interviews, the interviewer decides whether you will be a right 'fit' for their company during the first five minutes of the interview.
You should read up on job interviews on websites and how to impress during an interview. It sounds to me that the interview did not go particularly well or you just didn't have the qualifications the company was looking for.
Believe me, knowledge is power. If you read up on it, you may just get the job you REALLY want !

Good Luck to ya !

Answer 4

That's not discrimination - that is as someone said a judgment call.

My suggestion - read up on how to present yourself for an interview, and how to present yourself to a perspective employer. I can't tell you how many times when I was in management young people (18-23ish) would apply for jobs in jeans, flip flops, and looking they were ready for a day of laying on the couch, not getting a job. I never hired these people - it was a maturity issue. Go in with a mature attitude, maturely present yourself (skirt, closed toe APPROPRIATE dress shoes, blouse, appropriate makeup) and sell yourself as a mature employee.

Answer 5

I think it depends on what kind of work, industry or business you're in.

I work for a wine&spirit company, and one our policies is to not motivate people under legal-drinking age to drink alcohol. In some countries, it is penalised to show in advertisement people under legal age drinking alcohol or smoking (note: authorities will not come to ask for the birth certificate of the models, if the judge thinks / believes the model looks under age, you're in trouble).

Hence in order to avoid breaking our own policy and avoid a legal problem with authorities, one rule we use in advertisement is to never hire models that look UNDER 25yo.

I personally think in this case it makes sense.

Nevertheless, if by any chance there are no major implications of hiring under-age-looking people, then yes I would say it is discrimination.

Hope this was helpful.

Answer 6

Generally the scenario you give would not be considered illegal discrimination. Age discrimination is when you are not hired because of your actual age.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Can you prove that their is discrimination?

Answer 9

Is it discrimination? YES.

Is it ILLEGAL Discrimination? NO.