Age discrimination in the workplace can affect both younger and older employees. It is based on the belief that age limits an individual’s ability to perform their job effectively. This practice can lead to legal problems and prevent companies from accessing valuable assets. State and federal laws prohibit employment discrimination.
In regards to the workplace, age discrimination is the practice of excluding applicants for hire or promotion based on the individual’s age. Often associated with age, age discrimination is an approach that focuses on skill levels and job competencies and places emphasis on an individual’s marital age. Here is some information on the two main types of age discrimination and how this type of practice can have a negative impact for both the employer and the employee.
While many people think in terms of age discrimination against older employees, the fact is that age can affect a younger employee as well. Age bias has to do with thinking that the individual’s calendar age will in some way limit the individual’s ability to effectively perform their job responsibilities. While there are legal age limits which prohibit people below a certain age from entering the full-time labor market, the age limits which are imposed to prevent a young person with the right job and educational credentials from being considered for a job or position is considered unethical and if proven can even be grounds for litigation.
Naturally, the type of age discrimination that receives the most public attention is that of excluding qualified people from job opportunities because they are older than the solar age. An age approach follows the philosophy that an older employee may possess the necessary job skills and abilities, but that they will be much more likely to resist new and supposedly better methods or procedures. Additionally, there is concern that the older employee will not be able to provide a period of service that lasts long enough for the company to recoup the expenses associated with training. When the age restriction is based on these kinds of criteria, the company risks losing access to what may have been a valuable asset in the company’s ongoing health, as well as running the risk of being sued for discrimination based on age and encounter serious legal problems.
Age discrimination is simply a process designed to prevent people within a certain age limit, both young and older, from being able to participate in a job or advancement within the job they are qualified to pursue. While the practice was once quite common, state and federal laws that specifically prohibit employment discrimination, and to some extent define what constitutes age discrimination, have made it much more difficult for companies to engage in this type of of behavior.
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