The purpose of this essay is to examine for the age discrimination towards older people in the working life. The essay practice EU-law and national law to examine the age discrimination. It also looks for the limits towards age discrimination. A presentation of the rules will make it easier to see how employers are possible to get around the ban against age discrimination. This essay also illustrates how age discrimination emerges in recruitment processes and then how to discourage age discrimination. The essay is based on material in the legal source hierarchy and literature, internet based source and reports that have a connection with the subject choice. The legal dogmatic method has been applied with the legal sociology method to analyze the material.   The analyze shows that age discrimination is a fundamental right. The problem about age discrimination occurs according to the interpreting about opportunities against age discrimination. There is an opportunity for employer to get around the ban when the employee is 67 years old. Employers can also get around the ban when the costs are unacceptable in relation to hire an older person who coming up in the ages and can retrieve their pension. This hypothesis doesn’t agree with how todays working life and individual work career looks like. A recruitment process contributes to stereotypes for older persons. The reasons that contributes to stereotypes are how the pension and legal systems in the society are made and also because of peoples assessments and norms. The result of these stereotypes is involuntary retirement because older peoples get sort away in the recruitment process.   The labor law needs active provisions in the collaboration between employers and employees to countervail age discrimination in the recruitment process. In addition, the pension system and the law about employees whom is 67 years old needs to be regulated. The provisions are one way to frame same opportunities and equalities in the working life, especially for older people to get hired. / Uppsatsen har till syfte att redogöra för åldersdiskriminering riktad mot äldre personer iarbetslivet. Åldersdiskrimineringen redogörs genom att studera EU-rätt samt nationell rätt och se gränsen för åldersdiskriminering. En bild av bestämmelserna ska presenteras för att visa hur arbetsgivare har en möjlighet att kringgå förbudet mot åldersdiskriminering. Vad som även belyses är hur åldersdiskriminering kan komma att aktualiseras vid en rekryteringsprocess och vad som således kan motverka att åldersdiskriminering uppstår. Uppsatsen är baserad på material inom rättskällehierarkin samt litteratur, internet källor och rapporter som har en koppling till ämnesvalet. Materialet är sedan analyserat utifrån rättsdogmatisk metod samt rättssociologisk metod. Analysen resulterar i förbudet mot diskriminering p.g.a. ålder är en grundläggande rättighet. Problematiken kring åldersdiskriminering uppstår när undantagsmöjligheterna ska tolkas och tillämpas. Där finns ett utrymme för arbetsgivare att kringgå förbudet när arbetstagare är fyllda67 år. Dessutom går det att kringgå förbudet om det är oproportionerligt kostsamt för arbetsgivaren att anställa en äldre person som snart närmar sig pensionsåldern. Dock stämmer inte sistnämnda hypotes, sett till hur arbetsmarknaden och individens yrkeskarriär ser ut i dag. Åldersdiskriminering i en rekryteringsprocess består till stor del av omedvetna eller medvetna föreställningar om äldre personer. Orsakerna till föreställningarna är hur samhällets pensions- och rättssystem är uppbyggt samt människors värderingar och normer. Resultatet av dessa föreställningar blir ofrivillig pensionering av äldre personer i samhället för att de gallras bort i rekryteringsprocessen. För att motverka åldersdiskriminering i en rekryteringsprocess behöver lagstiftaren införa bestämmelser om ytterligare aktiva åtgärder i samverkan mellan arbetsgivare och arbetstagare. Dessutom borde pensionssystemet samt 67 årsregeln omarbetas då rådande bestämmelser inte överensstämmer  med  samhällets  funktionssätt.  Åtgärderna  är  ett  sätt  att  främja  likamöjligheter och rättigheter i arbetslivet och att öka chanserna till anställning för äldre.

Background: Career ending injuries are known to cause negative psychosocial and behavioural outcomes in retired athletes. However, there has been a limited amount of quantitative studies to complement mostly qualitative research. Furthermore, qualitative studies have typically assessed the effects of athletic identity, mental health/mood disturbances, loss, coping mechanisms and social support with minimal research regarding physical body transitions and body-esteem throughout the retirement process. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the relationship between affective, behavioural, and cognitive outcomes and athletic retirement (voluntary, involuntary) among elite and competitive athletes. Method: A retrospective mixed method (questionnaire and interview) study was utilized to examine how participants interpreted their experience during the transitional process into retirement. Inclusion criteria consisted of male and female, elite and competitive athletes who have voluntarily or involuntarily (career ending injury) retired, ages 18 and above. Exclusion criteria included non-athletes/recreational athletes, athletes who were able to return to play or retired due to illness, health problems or deselection as well as who were less than 18 years of age. Posters were advertised in sports clubs, fitness centers, sports centers, physiotherapy offices and universities as well as on social media (Facebook and Instagram). The main outcome measures are as follows:1) Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS); 2) Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ), 3) Mental Health and 4) COPE Inventory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from both retirement (voluntary and involuntary) groups. All interviews (telephone, zoom) were recorded, transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was implemented to further determine the various themes and subthemes. An independent t-test explored the impacts of body dimensions and coping mechanisms on retirement type. Then a factorial ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of the dependent variables (mental health, mood disturbances and coping mechanisms) on the main analysis (retirement) and the exploratory (strength of athletic identity) analysis. Results: 50 (26 involuntary and 24 voluntary) questionnaires and eight (four voluntary and four involuntary) interviews were completed by the participants. Results from the quantitative data revealed a borderline main effect of retirement type on both mental health and mood disturbances. An exploratory analysis found retirees who weakly identified with the athletic role were less likely to experience severe mood disturbances and demonstrated higher levels of mental health than retirees who strongly identified with the athletic role. Information from qualitative data suggested participants who involuntarily retired and possessed a strong athletic identity experienced higher levels of mood disturbances (depression, frustrations, loss etc.), lower levels of mental health, identity loss, physical discomfort, negative effects of mind and body dualism as well as utilized maladaptive coping techniques than their counterpart who voluntarily retired or weakly identified with the athletic role. Conclusion: Both retirement types are subjected to various athletic and non-athletic demands and psychosocial effects of athletic retirement however, what sets them apart from experiencing a successful or unsuccessful transition into retirement is the intensity and severity of their emotional reaction to their retirement. Limitations of said study included a decrease in sample size, memory recall bias, the participant’s own bias, limited diversity of the sample population as well as the inability to verify the findings from the interviews. The following study can be implemented to aid researchers, retired or soon to be retired athletes, coaches and athletic personnel to comprehend the diverse areas of athletic retirement. Future research should aim to investigate the impacts of mood disorders, the utilization of psychologist or mental performance consultant during the retirement process as well as the effects of body dimensions in retired athletes. Lastly, a longitudinal study should be employed to examine the athlete’s emotional response and reaction throughout retirement (time of injury, during physiotherapy, post- surgery and recovery). / Graduate