...has also increased the number of age discrimination complaints in the workplace. This report will analyze age discrimination in organizations and how it affects older workers in the United States workforce. This report will also analyze the federal laws and regulations that are enforced to protect older workers from illegal acts of age discrimination. In addition, this report will also disclose suggestions on how employers can reduce age discrimination in their company. Age Discrimination The Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) bans potential applicants, recruits, and employees from being treated “less favorably” because of their age (EEOC, 2011). The ADEA protects employees and job applicants that are over the age of 40, from discrimination during the entire employment process. For instance, an employee can file an age discrimination complaint with the EEOC if he or she believes they were not given a job opportunity based on age. However, the ADEA does not protect employees in industries that have a mandatory retirement age, such as air plane pilots, air traffic controllers, and police officers because of the safety requirement and skill level needed for these jobs (Wagner, 2011). In addition to the hiring process, age discrimination practices in the workplace include the following; promotions, wages and salaries, employee benefits, layoffs, and mandatory retirement (industry may vary) (EEOC, 2011). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible...
Words: 1192 - Pages: 5
...Age Discrimination in the Workplace George Siler Human Resource Age Discrimination in the workplace Paul is a skilled welder and has been with the same company for over 40 years. All employees from the owner to the janitor know of his contributions that have allowed the organization to flourish. You see, Paul was a specialized welder that was able to accomplish government contracts that allowed the factory to remain open during the past recession. As he was approaching his sixty-second birthday that was attended by co-workers, supervisors and even the owner attended his party to honor this impressive worker. During this time, the owner decided that the time was right to hire a young worker to be trained by Paul to continue the specialized production for the distant future. This was a prudent decision, because all owners and CEO’S have a primary responsibility to improve the bottom line. I know this is true because every business course that I have had this is the message provided by my professors. This story then takes a turn for the worst. Paul trains the young worker, and then the owner thinks why am I paying two people for the same job? Who do you think gets his walking papers? Paul is clearly a victim of age discrimination. Like most of the labor force he is ignorant of the law and becomes one of the many of unreported cases of this abuse of power. In order to help protect those who stand to be singled out and let go because of the unfairness of ageism, the Age...
Words: 1373 - Pages: 6
...technologies in addition to that of current product lines. His situation; however, is an interesting paradox, as his career path has progressively moved him into positions with fewer opportunities for advancement rather those with upward mobility. Rarely, has Fogle been granted the opportunity to interview for a promotion. He has even been approached on occasion regarding early retirement or voluntary severance (J. Fogle, personal communication, August 12, 2006). When a primary goal of business is to achieve maximum efficiency by best utilizing its human resources, it may seem counterproductive to restrict the ability of an employee to contribute to organizational success based merely on age. This, however, appears to be an alarming trend...
Words: 2425 - Pages: 10
...Ageism in Corporate America Term Paper October 11, 2011 Ageism in Corporate America 1 Ageism is discrimination against any person based on their age; specifically against the elderly. I would like to focus on ageism in corporate America and the effects on Baby Boomers , Generation x, and Generation y. Today ageism is alive and well in corporate America. It seems the older workers or the baby boomers are effected the most. At the other end of the spectrum you have Generation y fresh out of college with no experience effected by the economy. The whole spectrum of ages are greatly effected in todays economy. We are seeing more and more of generation mixing in corporate america. You have the Baby Boomers who have been with a company for twenty plus years who still writes hand written letters sitting next to Generation y ,who are extremly tech savvy and fresh to the company. Then you have Generation x (ages 29- 42) who is familiar with communications, media and digital technologies and are also feeling the affects of ageism in corporate America. ...
Words: 1020 - Pages: 5
...(forty-five) was a cause for concern. Jones also stated that if he got a haircut and improved his physical appearance, there might be a position at the customer service counter. According to Jones, the position paid slightly less but would be more reasonable for a man of Smith’s condition and age. Several days later, Mr. Jones received a notice from the local equal employment opportunity commission stating Mr. Smith had filed age-discrimination charges against him. The question is; what is discrimination and is Mr. Jones discriminating? To decide if this is discrimination we must first know the definition. Webster’s defines discrimination as the act, practice, or an instance of discriminating categorically rather than individually and, prejudiced or prejudicial outlook, action, or treatment. Clearly according to Webster’s one might say Mr. Jones is discriminating against Mr. Smith because of his age; however, he did offer Smith a different job. In the legal world, and in this case, these things are not always black and white nor does Webster’s definition always fit. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 states, “It shall be unlawful for an employer- to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual...
Words: 1042 - Pages: 5
...Employment Law Assignment 1. Define BFOQ and list to which characteristics it applies BFOQ stands for Bona Fide Occupational Qualification which functions as a defense to a suit for discrimination for employers with regards to religion, national origin, gender, and age. Employers may discriminate for the causes mentioned above if they can establish that a "bona fide occupational qualification" exists. This qualification defense does not apply to race and color. Under the ADEA (Age Discrimination in Employment Act), it is unlawful for an agency to discriminate on the basis of age unless the agency can establish that the age limitation is a “Bona Fide Occupational Qualification” necessary to the performance of the duties of the position. 2. What is the purpose of the Glass Ceiling Commission? The purpose of the glass ceiling commission is to consider how prepared women and minorities are for advancement, what opportunities are available, and what policies businesses follow in making such promotions. The commission also compares businesses that have actively promoted women and minorities to determine their reasons for success. 3. What is the Federal Privacy Act, to whom does it apply, and what does it protect? The Privacy Act of 1974 was enacted to safeguard private information of federal employees from being disclosed by the federal government. Under the act, no information pertaining to an employee may be released before the prior written consent of the employee is...
Words: 520 - Pages: 3
...Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins 507 U.S. 604 (1993) Case Study JSale. GB41- Employment Law Professor Shawn Pattinson 1 Do you agree with the court that age and years of service are sufficiently distinct to allow for terminations based on years of service and to find no violation of the ADEA where the terminations result in a greater proportion of older workers being fired? The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (the ADEA) forbids discrimination based on age by protecting individuals over the age of forty from “arbitrary” age discrimination. Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to “promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age (29. U.S.C. 621b. 1990). In Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, the Supreme Court of the United States resolved a split in the circuit courts of appeals and held that an employer does not violate the Act when the employer makes a decision wholly motivated by factors other than age. In Hazen Paper, the employer terminated an employee to prevent the employee from vesting in his pension. Under the employer’s plan, the pension vested based upon the employee’s years of service and was not directly related to age. The Supreme Court rejected the plaintiff’s argument, holding that “age and years of service are analytically distinct” and that it is “incorrect to say that a decision based on years of service is necessarily ‘age-based (Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins. 507 U.S. 604 (1993). The Supreme Court concluded...
Words: 1403 - Pages: 6
...Age discrimination is one of the worst types of discriminations next to that of racial or ethnic discrimination. A person’s age should never be a factor in how they are treated. Once we reach the age where we can make logical conscious decisions on our own, we should be treated like everybody else. Age discrimination is predominant because the majority of this world’s inhabitants have unfair and old-fashion ideas or beliefs. .In order to help protect those who stand to be singled out and let go because of the unfairness of ageism, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was designed with the older employee in mind. The issue at hand is that companies are not willing to look beyond their aging workforce, choosing instead to push them out of the technological loop rather than attempting to incorporate them as valuable assets. In our culture, the general perception is that with youth comes energy, imagination, and innovation. With age comes decreasing interest, lack of innovation and imagination, and a lessening of the quality of the person (Bennett, 2001, p. 410-411). source:laterlife.com /78%of older people have been victims of agism. older workers see themselvesas targetsfor redundancy and feel frustrated that their valuable skills are going to waste when they have so much to offer an employer. source :new york times / "older workers need not apply " reasons for discrimination : can be the perception of supervisors who often worry about how to manage older subordinates...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
...Age Discrimination Age shows how young or old you are to take responsibility, work pressure, giving opinions, play a sport, do an adventure, sharing experiences and doing a job. But Age never suggest that a 16 year old boy or girl is not old enough to handle pressure, or take responsibilities and a 60 year old man can’t play a sport or participate in an adventure. Many companies and employers have started using AGE as a weapon to start doing discrimination. Age discrimination means treating two people differently on the ground of their age. How can one become less advantageous just because of his or her age? If an employee doesn’t suit a job and he is asked to leave because of his incompetence or lack of knowledge or irresponsibility etc then it is legally acceptable but if a person is just not treated well in terms of payment, promotion i.e not given opportunity to grow, or is asked to leave the organization just because of the fact that he is ageing is not a lawful act. Employment Act, 1967 (ADEA) prohibits the following act against age discrimination: * Discrimination in giving job, wages, promotion. * Giving employment notices specifying the age limit. * Older employees not given benefits. * Prohibiting fixing of retirement age below 65 years. Section 623 of the Employment Act, 1967 (ADEA) describes the defense to ACT towards the Age Discrimination. It discusses the following: * With a reasonable cause, the employer has a right to discharge an...
Words: 639 - Pages: 3
...Running head: Labor and Employment Law Labor and Employment Law As a Human Resource Director for Company X, I come across situations every day that challenge my decision making. These situations need to be handled in a delicate matter to make sure that the company is following the guidelines that are setup and established by the federal government to make sure that companies and employees are treated fairly. I would like to discuss three situations that recently have challenged my leadership as a Human Resource Director and show the diversity of the laws and why they were created and how they work. Situation A – FMLA The first situation I am about to describe is an unfortunate set of circumstances, but the law is very clear and the company position is easily seen. Therefore, it was not hard for me to make this decision. The employee was presented with a difficult family situation his twin children were born premature. He made the decision to take leave from work to attend to his spouse and the needs of his family. This is ok and totally understood by the company. Here is where the unfortunate part comes, the department manager at the time agreed to the let the employee take a leave of absence, but the proper paperwork was not filed for Family Medical Leave Act. Now to complicate matters worse, the department manager that was in charge of this employee left during the employee’s leave. Eleven weeks have gone by and the employee wants to...
Words: 1701 - Pages: 7
...without problems, which was taken care of. Even though there is a new manager they are following the procedures under the FMLA and will not be penalized for not paying employee A’s salary. Employee A should have looked in his leave further before deciding to take leave. There was not a violation of the FMLA. Situation B. Employee B is 68 years old and has been with Company X for 42 years. During the annual performance review last month, it was determined that Employee B was doing “above average” work in the department. Employee B was denied a promotion due to age. A co-worker given the promotion, who is 32 years old, received a performance review of “adequate.” -The Age Discrimination in Employment Act or ADEA protects against discrimination in people over 40. The ADEA forbids any discrimination in the work place when it comes to promotion among other things. In this case employee B was discriminated against if the only reason he was not chosen for the promotion...
Words: 656 - Pages: 3
...Task 2 – Labor and Employment Law As requested I’ve reviewed the situation for each of the employee you mentioned. I’ve detailed my findings below. Situation A I reviewed FMLA requirements to Employee A’s situation. First, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires 1,250 hours and 12 months of employment at the company (Wage, 2010). Employee A has been with Company X for two years; therefore this requirement has been met. Second, Employee A’s situation, his wife gave birth to premature twins, is eligible for FMLA unpaid according to The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (Wage, 2010). The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, states employee is “…entitled to return to the same or similar position with the same benefits and rate of pay he was making before he went on FMLA” (Wage, 2010). Therefore, Employee A is entitled to return to the job he held; however, he is not entitled to payment during his leave. In summary, Company X is compliant with the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. Therefore, Company X is not required to compensate Employee A for the 11 week time-frame he was unable to work. Situation B I have reviewed the situation of Employee B where he alleges age discrimination. Employee B is stating that he is being discriminated against when he failed to receive a promotion which he claims he was qualified to receive. His performance review from last month states his work was “above average”. The promotion was given to a co-worker who was 32 years old and...
Words: 749 - Pages: 3
...serious health condition, to take care of an immediate family member with a serious illness, or for the birth/adoption/placement of a child. The employee is entitled to return after the leave period to their original job or an equivalent job with identical pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions. Employee A has the right to take up to 12 weeks off of work for the birth of his premature twins, he is also entitled to return to his original job with original pay. Employee A is not entitled to pay for the 11 weeks he was on leave. Company X has not violated any laws in this situation. Employee A may still take another week of leave, the leave was for an appropriate reason, and FMLA leave is unpaid. Situation B The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 prohibits employers, with 20 or more employees, from discriminating against individuals on the basis of age. ADEA applies to any employee or applicant 40 years old or older. It is permitted for an employer to discriminate based on age to favor older workers even when doing so negatively affects a younger worker who is 40 or older. The only exception the ADEA is if there is a “bona fide occupational qualification” (BFOQ). Employee B was given a higher assessment on a performance review than the co-worker who was given the position, and was told he did not get the promotion because of his age. Company X seems to have violated the ADEA, it does not appear the company is allowed to discriminate based on age in...
Words: 733 - Pages: 3
...Question1. Define “beautyism” and its potential discrimination effects on hiring in the workforce. Beautyism is a term that describes the social advantage attractive people get over less attractive attributes (Cash, 1990). It is well known that individual with physical beauty earn significant social benefit within the society and culture. Evidence proves that being beauty has a positive impact on the employer’s hiring decision, and the majority of hired candidates are more attractive (Nguyen). However, being beautiful dose not means the candidate has the needed knowledge to success neither less attractive candidates may not have the required knowledge for success. The assumption can be made and developed from the special treatment that is given to the candidate who hired because of beautyism. Beautyism is not discriminate, but the bias against less attractive applicants may lead to a particular aspect of discrimination. However, relevant federal law is Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967(ADEA). This law protects individuals who are forty years of age and over. In case of hiring a young attractive applicant over less attractive older applicant that is over forty years could indicate to a potential discrimination under ADEA. Appurtenance and weigh are not protected class under Title VII. Still, applicant with morbidly obese may apply to American with Disabilities Act (ADA). On the state level there is no law that ban discrimination based on physical appearance and weight except...
Words: 324 - Pages: 2
...Situation A – The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) The Family Medical Act, Wage and Hour Division, under the United States Department of Labor that was enacted in 1993,necessitates that covered employers make available to employees leave that is related to work, and also unpaid for medical and family reasons that are considered fit. FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees, public agencies, and schools (Ford et al 2000). An employee is qualified for FMLA if they have reached 12 months of working for their employer, have worked for 1250 hours for him or her, and works where there at least 50 workers who are working for the same employer (The Family Medical Leave Act, 1993). It should be noted, however, that the leave period should not exceed 12 weeks for a period of 12 months. The conditions which enable one to benefit from FMLA are: * The delivery of a child, either a boy or girl or the placement of a girl or boy child with the employee for taking up or adoptive care (Ford et al 2000); * The care for an intimate such as a marital partner spouse, son, daughter, or parent who is very ill or injured; * If the employee has a serious health condition or injury that makes it almost impossible to do the tasks that they should do; or * For any eligible emergency that arises out of the point that an intimate such as a spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a member of the military on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status (Ford et al 2000)...
Words: 1181 - Pages: 5
