There is evidence to suggest that more people suffer from age discrimination than any other form of
discrimination. This is a problem for the individuals concerned, businesses and the economy. Despite
major growth of literature on age discrimination in employment in recent years, there remains a dearth of
research into age discrimination in hotel workplaces. The aim of this article is to assess the role of Human
Resource practices in perpetuating age discrimination in such workplaces. The study is empirical and
focuses on the views of ten Human Resource managers of hotels in the UK and Ireland. This study
uncovered little evidence to suggest that older workers are experiencing direct discrimination. However,
evidence of indirect discrimination included the widespread use of internet recruitment, a focus on local
colleges when recruiting, a focus on work flexibility, a desire to recruit Eastern European workers and few
special initiatives to attract older employees.