Thursday, April 24, 2008

Labor Laws And Age Discrimination Do Not Mix

Under state laws, employers are prohibited from discriminating employees who are 40 years old and above. The law is clear that one should not be discriminated because of their age.

Nowadays, most companies prefer young blood to work for them. The reason for this is that they are active and are trained to handle jobs and machines that are attuned to the changing times.

There are three methods of age-related discrimination that is common in the workplace. They are disparate treatment, disparate impact, and age-based harassment. In disparate treatment, the focus is whether or not the action of terminating an employee was motivated by their desire to discriminate. This can be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence.

In the case of disparate impact, even when there is no intention to motivation to discriminate, Title VII still prohibits an employer from resorting to employment practices that will have a negative impact on the employee. In this method, the plaintiff has to prove that the employer really did violate the law.

In age-based treatment, the employer is prohibited from terminating, not hiring, refusing to provide necessary benefits , and discriminating because of their age. The main focus of the law is to pursue the employment of older persons and to look at their skills and abilities and not their age.

People should be given the chance to prove themselves to employers because frankly speaking, age is never an issue when it comes to employment. Just because an employee is younger does not mean that they are more capable.