Age Diversity in the Workplace

The article discusses age discrimination in the workplace, specifically highlighting the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 (ADEA) in the United States. The ADEA protects individuals aged 40 and above from discrimination based on their age during employment, apprenticeship programs, job notices, and pre-employment inquiries. Additionally, employers are prohibited from denying benefits to older workers unless they can demonstrate that the costs of providing reduced benefits to them are the same as those provided to younger employees. The article emphasizes the importance of managing age diversity in the workplace, promoting balance between personal fulfillment and work devotion among mature workers. This can be achieved by scheduling recreational events, offering flexibility in working schedules, and fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect. Finally, the article highlights the need for equal employment opportunity (EEO) to prevent discrimination based on age, sex, race, religion, and other factors.

Age discrimination
Assessment
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Date
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Age Discrimination
Table of Contents
Description.....................................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................................3
a. Age Discrimination.............................................................................................................3
b. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).....................................4
c. Managing Age diversity in workplace.............................................................................5
d. Equal employment opportunity........................................................................................6
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................7
References.....................................................................................................................................8
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Age Discrimination
This report deals with the discussion of the article “You’re How Old? We’ll Be in Touch”
published in New York Times on 3rd September 2016 and is written by Ashton
Applewhite.
Description
The article raises the question the age prejudice and discrimination happening at the
workplace. Age discrimination at workplace is seen to be highly problematic for the
older working population. The author expresses the various issues face by the elderly
section of the society at their workplace and how the experienced workers are not
considered for jobs. With the widespread discrimination against the elder workers on the
basis of their age, their promotion, training and even any pressure for taking the
redundancy packages or any case of retirement is overlooked. However compulsory
retirement and age discrimination are against the law and are also seen to be costly for
the community as well as employers. It has further been mentioned by the author that
various information and data has been presented which depict that the mature workers
are more reliable, master new skills, more engaging than the millennials. However, they
take considerable time in completing a task and longer recovery time in case of any
injury. This leads to getting them in trouble and to become less employable even when
they are at no fault.
The author further notifies that some of the progressive companies do understand the
importance of hiring mature workers so as not to hurt the profits and productivity. But
the mature workers face the issues of cultural fits in the organization due to discomfort
caused because of the age gap. This age gap creates a profoundly age-segregated
society in the workplace. In the conclusion, the author focusses on the fact that age
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Age Discrimination
segregation has impoverished America as ageism has subverted the exchange of
stories and skills among the different generations. Therefore he advises the mature
workers to be motivated and to confront ageism in the best way possible.
Discussion
a. Age Discrimination
Any worker of 40 years of age or older who has been harmed by any decision taken by
his organization suffers from the unlawful discrimination. Some of the examples of the
unlawful age discrimination are:
a. When any worker is not hired because the employer is looking for a younger
employee;
b. The worker is considered inflexible in taking up new projects and therefore
received negative job evaluation;
c. The employee gets hired as younger workers can be paid less;
d. Denial of promotion to the older employees;
e. Older workers are laid off of the job whereas the workers with less seniority are
kept in the organization;
f. The worker is considered to be ancient or over the hill by his employer;
The cases of age discrimination have been aggravated by the economy in the past few
decades and it is against the law to discriminate on the basis of age. But on the other
hand is becomes impossible to demonstrate the older workers are letting go because of
their age in comparison to their performance issues. Therefore the older workers should
be well aware of their rights and should protect themselves by keeping a check on their
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Age Discrimination
performance evaluations for providing evidence that they have exceeded the
expectations of his or her employers.
b. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) is aimed towards protecting
the workers of age 40 or older from the discrimination at the workplace on the basis of
age. This law and its protection applies to the job applicants as well as the employees.
Under this act, it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of their age in terms of hiring,
layoff, promotions, benefits, compensation, training or job assignments. The employers
have been permitted by ADEA for favoring the older workers on the basis of their age.
Additionally, it is unlawful to retaliate against any worker who opposes the employment
practices which are discriminating the workers on their age or even for filing the charge
on age discrimination or any processing, participation or even litigation under ADEA.
This Act applies to the employers employing 20 or more employees and also includes
the local or state government along with the labor organization, employment agencies
and federal government (Facts About Age Discrimination, 2016). ADEA protection is
seen to include:
1. Apprenticeship Programs: it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of age in any
of the apprenticeship program. The limitation on age is only valid under specific
exceptions of ADEA.
2. Job Notices and Advertisements: it is unlawful to publish a job notice or advert
specifying the age criteria and limit is only acceptable in case of “bona fide
occupational qualification” (BFOQ).
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Age Discrimination
3. Pre-Employment Inquiries: No employer is allowed to ask the age or date of birth
of the applicant and the query on age is only applicable if asked on lawful
purpose.
Benefits: The ADEA has been amended by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of
1990 (OWBPA) to prohibit the employers to deny any benefits entitled to the older
workers. The employer has been given permission to reduce the benefits with age only
when the cost of providing the decreased benefits are same as given to the millennials.
c. Managing Age diversity in workplace
The mature and older workers are made up of strong morals and work ethics and
therefore they are seen to contribute more to the workplace. Therefore, it has been
seen to be beneficial for the employers to recruit older and mature workers. An
employer who is not age diverse in his recruitment process is seen to be vulnerable
towards the shortages of the skills. Various researches have indicated that the mass
exodus of the older workers can lead to organization with lacking skills and experience.
This leads to low morale, poor performance, age discrimination claims and loss of
experience staffs. Therefore it must be a managerial objective to foster a balance of
personal fulfillment and work devotion among the mature workers. This can be done by
promoting various balance that will offer opportunities for varying generations helping
the mature workers to confront ageism confidently. One of the method can be to
schedule recreational and social event in the organization which can help to build
rapport among the individual belonging from different age groups thereby facilitating the
connection and bonding. Additionally, the mature workers can be provided with flexibility
in their working schedule to balance their personal and family matters. Various studies
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Age Discrimination
have indicated that the rick diversity in the workplace in terms of generational
perspective leads to a nurtured, valued and integrated workplace with enhances the
organization so as to attain new heights in terms of productivity (Understanding and
Leveraging Generational Diversity for organizational success, 2016)
d. Equal employment opportunity
It is imperative for all the organization to ensure equal employment opportunity to their
workers and to not to discriminate on the basis of age, sex, caste, race, religion etc. All
the federal contractors should take actions in order to prevent any kind of discriminatory
activities taking place in the organization. The government needs to implement a strong
and affirmative action plan for assuring equal employment opportunity for underutilized
minorities, older workers women, people with disabilities etc.
All the managers, administrators, supervisors etc. are responsible to fulfill all the
responsibilities related to the equal employment opportunity. This can only be
accomplished by maintaining good faith efforts in order to make the workplace free of
harassment and discrimination (Rosenbloom, D. H., 1977). No discrimination on the
basis of sex, age, religion, national origin, mental condition, ancestry etc. must be
tolerated. The principle motive behind EEO is to provide same and equal access of
opportunities to all the employees. The EEO is mandatory for all the federal contractors.
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Conclusion
The two questions for stimulating discussion among students concerning the article and
topic are mentioned as given below:
Question. What are the different forms of unfair treatment and discrimination based on
age in any workplace? What can you do if you encounter any of them?
Question. Why the older women workers are at higher risk of age discrimination as
compared to their male counterparts?
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Age Discrimination
References
Applewhite, A. (2016). You’re How Old? We’ll Be in Touch. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 15
October 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/opinion/sunday/youre-how-old-
well-be-in-touch.html
Facts About Age Discrimination. (2016). Eeoc.gov. Retrieved 15 October 2016, from
https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/age.html
Understanding and Leveraging Generational Diversity for organizational success.
(2016) (1st ed., p. 12). Retrieved from
http://www.kellyservices.com.hk/.../Understanding-and-Leveraging-Generational-
Diversity/
Rosenbloom, D. H. (1977). Federal equal employment opportunity: Politics and public
personnel administration. New York: Praeger.
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