Y is there a problem?

“Age before beauty”, as the well-known saying goes, used to be used to teach children that older people should be given precedence over the younger and, by implication, more attractive. Recent research carried out by Doyle Clayton Solicitors on how employees view their older colleagues and those who work part-time reveals that “age before beauty”, in that sense, is not a saying that applies in many workplaces. In fact, the research on how employees view their older colleagues and those who work flexibly suggests that Generation Y employees (those in their 20s and early 30s) have the most negative attitudes towards older workers and those who work part-time or from home. A case of “beauty over (older) age”, then.

Another popular saying, “small is beautiful”, is borne out, however, by another aspect of the research which considered how a business’s size can affect the level of discrimination experienced by workers within it. This revealed that micro-businesses (those with one to