In 1967, Congress passed a bill known as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). This was a labor law that forbade employers from discriminating against employees who had attained the age of forty and above. Under the Act it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against individuals because of their age on any working conditions, terms, and jobs benefits. This includes the processes of hiring, promoting, firing, compensation, layoffs, job assignment, training and other benefits. Furthermore, the ADEA stipulates that employers have to consider the older workers even when adjustments made can adversely affect the employees (Maney, n.d). Additionally, it is against the law for employers to retaliate against the older workers for opposing discriminatory employment practices, filing an age discrimination charge, giving testimonies or participating in ADEA’s litigation, investigations, and proceedings. The law applies to firms which have more than 20 employees in the state and local governments. I agree with the stipulations of the act because of the following reasons.
First and foremost, the law supports the American Constitution regarding facilitating for equality and fairness in the workplace. For instance, the workers have a chance to apply their knowledge and skills for the good of the organization (Cortina, et.al, 2013).So, employers do not have the right to unceremoniously fire, deny promotions and training to the older working population on the pretext that they are old fashioned. Various studies concur with the fact that in many of the successful businesses, most of the individuals in top management positions are people well over beyond the age of forty. These people attain high levels of success given the fact that they have a lot of experience in dealing with the operations of the firm, hence are valuable assets to any organization. Therefore, the notion that the older employees are slower and less productive than the younger ones is not true at all because the senior workers have a better understanding of a company’s operations.
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Consequently, the law protects the right for the older workers to receive various benefits .These include house, travelling allowance and entitlement to holidays one a year. Still, they can be part of different training programs aimed at increasing productivity ( Kulik, et.al, 2014 ). As a result, companies are required to include these workers in benefit plans because they are still of value to the business. For instance, the older workers are still entitled to various insurance programs such as health cover. If these rules are not well implemented, then the USA is likely to have a high number of older adults who cannot pay their medical bills, housing among other services.
Subsequently, the law protects the older employees from mandatory retirement which is not only unconstitutional but also violates the 15th and 14th amendments in the constitutions whose concept is due process and equal protection respectively. Therefore, the law protects the elderly from losing a source of income and instead gives them a chance to give their services to the business. It should be noted that the cost of taking care of the older people without jobs is very costly to the US government ( Gonzales, et.al, 2015). In a way, keeping the over forty employees in employment ensures that the burden they would pose to the government and their family members does not take place. Hence, the act allows the older employees willing to continue with their work. Studies reveal that the elderly individuals who still have forms of employment live a happy and less stressful life. Thus, employers need to understand that once they fire or let go of such workers, they increase the number of people living in shelters, depression rates as well as those depending on government aid. Further, in case an employer requires an older worker to retire, various procedures and regulations have been put in place to guide the how the employee will receive sufficient benefits that will enable them plan for their future.
Wage discrimination occurs when the employers decide that the older people offer less to the firm than the younger blood. Such a notion is not true, but on the contrary, the senior workers need to be appreciated for their loyalty and dedication to work in a specified firm. As a result, the ADEA ensures that the employees’ salaries in a company are equal regardless of age since the elderly offer just as much as their counterparts (Lassuset.al,2015 )., Moreover, if the old workers feel that they have been discriminated against, then they have a right to complain or sue the company in question. I agree with this initiative because most people face oppression and are afraid to report because they fear to lose their jobs. So, the act protects such employees because they are sure to retain their jobs.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act is critical in safeguarding senior workers in a business organization. Supporting this law is as a result of the influence it has on the employers in regards to discriminating against such workers. The welfare of the workers regarding getting promotions, benefits, training and same salaries among other has been taken care of. For this reason, various costs likely to arise due to a high elderly jobless population can be prevented, saving the government from spending more. Nonetheless, age discrimination still continues in a number of work places so, many rules and regulations need to be devised to stop the practice.
References
Cortina, L. M., Kabat-Farr, D., Leskinen, E. A., Huerta, M., & Magley, V. J. (2013). Selective incivility as modern discrimination in organizations: Evidence and impact. Journal of Management , 39 (6), 1579-1605.
Gonzales, E., Matz-Costa, C., & Morrow-Howell, N. (2015). Increasing opportunities for the productive engagement of older adults: A response to population aging. The Gerontologist , 55 (2), 252-261.
Kulik, C. T., Ryan, S., Harper, S., & George, G. (2014). Aging populations and management. Academy of Management Journal , 57 (4), 929-935.
Lassus, L. A. P., Lopez, S., & Roscigno, V. J. (2015). Aging workers and the experience of job loss. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility , 41 , 81-91.
Maney, D. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfm
