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The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, or ADEA , was created to help prevent age related discrimination in the workplace against people who are age 40 or older. The term discrimination in this context applies to companies and their employees, but the company must have at least 20 people working there at any given time for the law to apply . In terms of discrimination, it prohibits such acts against people 40 or older , including making hiring or layoff decisions, denial of benefits, making statements or notices pertaining to specific ages, and forcing people to go into mandatory retirement. This Act covers a much broader range than mentioned, but these are the basic foundations. The law also applies when it comes to employers determining compensation.
Congress originally passed the law in 1967. The reason for the Act being passed was that employees of an older age began to find themselves being forced out of the workplace due to their age. In other situations, businesses would not hire them because of their age, regardless of their past experience. The ADEA encourages and mandates employers to hire and maintain employees based on skills and ability alone. Companies, including unions, cannot fire, layoff or otherwise discharge people based on their age. Originally, this law was a spin-off from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was one of the first laws to be passed pertaining to rights in the workplace . If an employer is found to be in violation of the ADEA, the employee has the right to seek legal council and sue for damages. In 1975, another Age Discrimination Act was passed. This time, it pertained to discrimination based on age for organizations or companies that receive government or public funding . This is important, since previously it only pertained to private businesses.
Unfortunately, age discrimination is a factor that happens too often in our society. Not only does it affect older people on the job, it can also affect them in other ways. For example, some lenders are hesitant to offer loans to older people. Even worse is the fact that some educational institutions are discriminatory to older people, and those in the housing sector can be as well. Age discrimination can be extremely difficult to deal with, as it must be proven in a court of law if the person wishes to seek restitution. Every year, thousands of people file a complaint in regards to age discrimination. In 2008, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received about 25,000 complaints . Of those official complaints, about 21,400 were considered resolved, and over $8 million was awarded. People are often unsure if they are protected against this type of discrimination, but in reality it is one of the fastest growing sectors of legal attorneys’ offices or types of law practices in business today. It is important for people to know what it looks like so they can protect themselves from illegal age discrimination .
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