Age Discrimination In Employment Act

Analysis of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
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Analysis of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Introduction
In the 20th century, the business world experienced issues related to the rise in productivity and affluence which led to older workers finding themselves at a disadvantage when it came to retaining jobs or regaining new ones after termination of their previous works. Therefore, there had to be a setting up of arbitrary age limits notwithstanding the potential for work performance in many workplaces. However, certain practices that would otherwise be considered desirable may work against older employees. The incidences of lack of employment especially long-term unemployment
These pension plans do not warrant that a worker has to be of a certain age in order to be vested. Rather, they are required to have worked for a specific number of years. Whether the requirement is 10 or 20 years, the years of service pertains to any worker regardless the age of a particular individual. In our case study, the courts have determined that age and years of service are analytically distinct and as such an employer may take into account one factor while ignoring the other (“Hazen Paper v.,” n. d.). Therefore, we can conclude that a decision based on the years of service of an employee is based on their age. I agree with the idea that years of service and age are adequately separate. However, I also believe that if there are predominately older employees in an organization as compared to younger employees being fired from the same organization, then there is cause for an investigation of that organization to ascertain if the terminations were age-based or valid. This is to determine whether the decision by the organization to terminate the jobs of the workers had the same basis for all the ages. If this is not the case, then it would be said that the organization is discriminating against older
The employee needs to identify if there is a pattern in how the terminations were carried out. He/she should examine the ages of the employees that had been fired. If findings show that there are a disproportionate number of older employees being fired, then there should be cause for concern. However, for a claim to succeed, the employee's protected trait had to have played a role in the situation and had an influence on the outcome (“Hazen Paper v.,” n. d,). The employee should also have been qualified for the position. However, most courts consider the fact that the employee had already been hired as the reason for their qualification for that particular post (Benett-Alexander & Hartman, 2009). Another aspect that the employee needs to examine is if they had been given a warning about their job performance at any point of their work. If it is seen that the organization had given the employee a warning about poor work performance and that the performance had not changed for the better, then the termination may have been valid. If the contrary is true, then the employee has a right to question the