Age Discrimination in the Public Sector
My topic of discussion will consist of an analysis on the subject of Age discrimination. Age discrimination generally is discriminating on the basis of age, which is illegal under the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Age discrimination has some special aspects that make it different from other types of employment discrimination. My research will discuss this more in detail. Included will be several court decisions of great importance, the history of the Age Discrimination Statute, and other important data in regards to Age discrimination. Also there is information included on how to file a complaint with the
…show more content…
The article can be found at the following site: http://www.clem.mscd.edu/~steinhas/minimizing.html.
“Sketchy evidence that older workers experience discrimination because of their age is easy to find. The popular press includes many stories of individual employees who have been replaced by younger workers, sometimes just before they become eligible for lucrative retirement benefits. Older workers (in the past) were forced by mandatory
retirement provisions to leave their jobs before they would otherwise have chosen to retire. Others who remain on the job claim that they confront hostile work environments or are demoted to less remunerative positions, with their age being the big factor.
Concern by policymakers over these types of incidents prompted Congress to enact the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in 1968, which outlawed discrimination in the workplace against workers between the ages of 40 and 65. Later amendments prohibited mandatory retirement before the age of 70 in 1978 (and then outlawed mandatory retirement altogether with a few exceptions) in 1986. During 1990, 10,485 complaints of age discrimination were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” 1 (Johnson and Neumark, pg. 779 , 1996 )
Age discrimination has some special aspects that make it different from other types of employment discrimination. I will also discuss a few. Included will be several court decisions on cases
Age: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects those ages 40 and over, it does not protect those under 40. Employers may favor an older worker over a younger worker, even if both are 40 or over. Issues may arise, though, when both the individual making the hire and the applicant are over age 40. Examples of
Age discrimination can also impede on opportunities for employment due to stereotypes employers might have during job application evaluations and interviews (Irving, 2015). Despite evidence that there are “no performance differences between older and younger employees, or that older workers even outperform younger employees, discrimination against older workers can be evident”
There are plenty of older workers that want and need work. These are people who are not nearing retirement, but are in the middle ages of their 40s and 50s. When new jobs are filled with new hires, a few of these new workers should be older. Of course, most people will be younger, but if no new workers are older, it is a clear sign of age discrimination in the workplace.
According to the United States Department of Labor website, The Age of Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) is defined as, “Protecting certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. The ADEA is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEPC).”
The world has come to a place where society thinks that any type of age will always have one type of “weakness” that will make them incapable to do a certain activity. The article called Age Discrimination by Gale Encyclopedia discusses how older people have it the hard way because they do not have an opportunity to keep their job . “Not only is it harder for an older worker to keep a job, it becomes harder for an older worker to find a job…..” (Encyclopedia, p.g 2) This certain situation discourages further people to look for other jobs, if they got fired because they start to lose hope. Not only is it harder for elderly people to find a job, but it gets difficult for a non experienced worker to adapt into their new environment. Younger workers
This has pushed the typical retirement ages of workers done work to the late 50s and early 60s (Nelson, 2004, p174). According to the report in a book titled "Age Discrimination in the American Workplace: Old at a Young Age", Joseph Bartek, an employee of the URA, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittburgh, was demoted after a thirty year position, due to a budgetary reason, and then five years later been denied promotions 5 five times for thirty year old individuals who are not as qualified as Bartek (Gregory, 2001, p88, 89).Older individuals often face common stereotypes and misperceptions generalized about their skills, abilities based on age, and certain negative attitudes from youngsters. People of old age are discriminated against on the basis of the assumptions that are they are unable to learn new things, less productive than younger workers and more likely to miss work because of sickness and set in their ways (Schulz, 2006, p43). Another example of common evidence of stereotype is compared with younger workers, older workers are less motivated, less willing to engage in training and career development, not as trusting, and more vulnerable to work and family conflicts (Ng and Feldman,
The Age Discrimination Act was passed in 1967; it states all workers who are 40 and older shall not be discriminated in recruitment, hiring, firing, salary, retirement and other practices. (SEC. 623. [Section 4]) Investigating charges and trying to work out solutions is done through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). (SEC. 633a. [Section 15]) Among all the various discrimination cases, age discrimination can be the most potentially damaging to a corporation.
Age Discrimination is against older worker who are age 40 or older. Employee did not get hired because the employer wanted a younger looking person to do the job. The older worker were fired. It quite not fair with people who have ability or other who can work well. Employers decide to hire their employee from paid less, avoid retirement and older worker's job performance.
R: The law prohibits discrimination in any aspect of employment. Age discrimination includes treating a person differently because of his or her age. The Age Discrimination in Employment act (ADEA) protects employee at an age 40 or older but does not protect a person that is younger than 40. Some states have different laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination.
Some workers don’t feel that they are ready to scale back and some workers are unable to
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). This act protects employees who are 40 years or older;
The ADEA permits a person who believes they have experienced age discrimination to file a complaint against the employer, employment agency, union, or government agency within one-hundred and eighty days of the discriminatory action or when he/she first notices it (50+ Workers). The government agency that is responsible for investigating the charge, determining if the charge is valid or not, and seeking a solution is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The second federal act passed was the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990. This protects against employers from denying benefits from older employees, such as insurance, pensions, disability benefits, and retirement benefits (Your Rights). This means that the employer must provide equal benefits for both old and young workers (Your Rights). However, an employer may reduce an employee’s benefits based on his or her age if the cost of the benefit increases with the age of the employee as long as the cost of the benefits provided to the older worker is not less than that for a younger worker. This is called the equal benefit rule.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 made an amendment to restore a better public safety, such as allowing fire departments and police officers unlimited hiring capacity and mandatory retirement ages. Additionally, it protects new job applicants disclosing their age. Employers who dare to ask will make us thoughtful of his ulterior motive for such a question.
While putting forward the principle-based argument that age discrimination of elderly work candidates is morally wrong, the paper discusses the consequences of hiring elderly and also common misperceptions of these consequences and of elder workers’ capabilities. Conflicting
I will be elaborating on about cases that are particularly about the discrimination of age, that I have chosen. The first case I will discuss is the case of, Lavoie v. Canada [2002] 1 S.C.R. 769. To summarize the case, it is about reducing welfare benefits for individuals under the age of thirty and not participating in training or work experience employment programs. During the trial, the appellant who is a welfare recipient challenged the 1984 social assistance,