Prejudice in the workplace due to age affects the young and old.

Onrec reports a recent tribunal saw a 20-year-old woman win a case against her former employer who dismissed her for being too young.

Now office support recruiter La crème has conducted a snapshot survey of office workers in their 20s about whether they have been discriminated against.

Of 135 respondents, 60 percent said they had unfairly treated because of their youth.

One PA reportedly said: "I don’t know why everyone just assumes that ageism only affects older people” says one PA. “My boss believes that I don’t understand the business because I’m not mature enough. Just because I haven’t got twenty years of experience, it doesn’t mean I’m ignorant! He overlooks the good things that I bring to the company.”

Tony Bourne, Partner and Head of the Employment Unit at Glovers Solicitors, told Onrec it’s these attitudes that could catch some people out. “This has been the biggest change in employment law since the Sex Discrimination Act in so much as it affects every single employee and potential employee. Much of the media coverage so far has centred on discrimination against ‘older’ employees, but as this recent case shows, discrimination on the basis of age – whether that’s 16 or 60 – is illegal.”

Commenting on the survey Jo Stuteley, UK Director of la crème told Onrec: “Many people don’t realise that age discrimination affects the younger members of the workforce as well as the older ones. The young seem to be especially affected within the organisation rather than at the application stage, whereas for older employees it seems to be the other way around. We in the recruitment industry are working towards dismissing the negative assumptions connected with age and highlighting the advantages that each individual can bring to a business.”