Age Discrimination Involved with Compulsory Retirement

Compulsory retirement is also known as mandatory retirement. This is where an individual is "forced to resign from one's employment at an age specified by union contract or company policy" (http://www.answers.com). While certain occupations, such as the airline industry, set retirement ages for airline pilots because of high levels of mental skills required for the position, other industries may be faced with issues by forcing people to retire at a certain age.

The major issue is age discrimination. This is a "process that is designed to keep persons within a given age limit, from being able to participate in employment or in advances within the workplace that he or she is qualified to pursue" (www.wisegeek.com). By forcing an employee to retire from his job, based on age alone is age discrimination. This is a direct violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "No individual shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, subjected to discrimination under, or denied employment in the administration of or in connection with, any such program or activity because of age" (www.dol.gov). If the person has the physical ability to do a job, then he must be allowed to work if he so desires.

Not only is the aging employee is protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, they are also protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967. As an employee, an individual may not be treated differently because of his age. If he works for a company that has twenty or more employers and are 40 years old or older, he is protected by this act. If he turned down for a promotion, gets a poor evaluation or is not offered training courses, he may be a victim of age discrimination.

If an individual feels that he has been discriminated against because of his age, first he can talk to the employer to resolve this issue. Sometimes the employer may not realize that he is discriminating against the individual. The issue is easily resolved. However, if the issue is not fixed, the individual can file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). He can either go to http://www.eeoc.gov or call 1-800-669-4000. He can get a local number to call.

After an EEOC complaint is filed, the company is notified and the charge is investigated. The EEOC uses mediation to resolve the issue between the employer and individual. If the issue is not resolved, then the case can go to court. However, most discrimination cases do not go past the mediation process, since a reasonable agreement arise between both the individual and the employer.

As employers it is important not to take a person's age into account. If an employee has the physical or mental ability to to the job, he can not be fired or turned down for a promotion. If a company is down-sizing, an employer may offer an early-retirement package to an individual. However, an individual cannot be forced to retire.

References:

http://www.answers.com/topic/compulsory-retirement

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-age-discrimantaion.htm

http://www.dol.gov

http:www.eeoc.gov