What Is Age Discrimination?
At the place of work, both young and the elderly at times experience age discrimination. Sometimes called ageism, age discrimination is where individuals get discriminated against by their age. Companies cannot hire or fire or promote an employee based on their age as this is unlawful. However, proving that an individual failed to secure a job because of age is a challenge. So, what is age discrimination?
Age discrimination mostly occurs when individuals who are forty years or older get discriminated in the workplace based on age. Age discrimination may take place in different forms like getting fired since the employer wanted to get a younger person for the job available or getting a negative job evaluation due to your age. Other types include failing to secure a promotion since you are old, and the company wanted a younger person.
Individuals and employees aged forty years and above are covered by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act from being discriminated against based on age. There is also the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 that prevents companies from denying older employees their benefits.
Age discrimination laws mainly protect workers of forty years and above from age discrimination when a firm has twenty or more employees on regular basis. For any employee protected by the ADEA, no employer can use age as the basis used to make an employment decision.
The law protects both those on work and also new applicants seeking employment. If you get fired from your job or you failed to secure a job applied for due to age, you have a basis for making a claim. However, when an employer offers some treatment to the older workers over the young ones, the Supreme Court states that the employer doesn’t in any way violate any law.
For an employer to get covered by ADEA, he or she must have twenty or more employees either in local or state government. Employment agencies, labor unions and federal government also get covered.
The ADEA states explicitly that it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual based on their age concerning any term or condition of employment. These conditions include hiring, layoffs, firing, job assignments, promotions, training and compensation.
There are no valid reasons under the ADEA for a company to fire a worker who is older. No employment decision should get based by one’s age. There are however some exceptions when ADEA makes age a qualification for getting a job. An example includes an acting role for a ten-year-old position must have someone of that age.
If you, or someone you know, are facing legal issues in the workplace United Employees Law Group has the answers. Call Today for your free and confidential case review. Please feel free to CONTACT US with any questions about this blog or your exact situation.
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