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Tina Samuels

Tina Samuels writes on Steve Wynn and Gary Crittenden, as well as marketing, social media, and mobile payments.

Tina Samuels has written 23 articles for SB Informer.
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Can My Small Business Be Sued for Age Discrimination?

Tina Samuels

July 08, 2013


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As a small business, you keep an eye on all your liabilities. You make sure that your place of work is safe, that your hours aren't overbearing, and that you have all the necessary items for a good work environment. When hiring, you're careful not to ask the wrong questions or give the hint of impropriety.

However, could you be sued for age discrimination?

Age Discrimination Defined

Age discrimination can relate to older, or younger, employees.

It is the basis of excluding applicants from being hired solely on their age, and it can be when an employee is pushed out of the workforce because of their age.

This practice keeps the focus off the employees’ skins and education, their ability to do the job, and focuses more on their calendar age.

While this was at one time very common practice in the job market, today it is highly frowned upon and is mandated against by the federal government.

The Who and What of Age Discrimination

Employers with more than 20 employees cannot create a hostile environment in their office for those who are older, they cannot harass or retaliate against people who invoke their ADEA rights, or discriminate on the basis of age unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification set.

This is for any employee that is 40 years of age or older.

Age Discrimination Work Tips

There are some things that you can do to help you make sure that you or your company isn’t being discriminatory against those over 40 years of age.

These are some of the top tips to remember:

Keep Good Records - If you are going to place an employee on probation or take and disciplinary actions towards him or her, make sure it is well documented the reasons why. This can help later should they say it was based on age.

Keep Speech Safe - Just like you keep sexual harassment out of the workplace, you have to reign in age discrimination. Be sure to keep any employee jokes, cartoons, and "good natured ribbing" out of the workplace.

Don't Ask About Their Age - For the application process, have a section "Are you over 18" or whatever the legal working age is for that job. Do not specifically ask their age on the application or during the interview phase.

HR Manual Safety Codes - Make sure that your HR manual has your company’s policies and standards specified to the letter, without mention of age though. Having age-related policies in there is a form of discrimination that could come back to bite the company in the rear.

There are many things that a small business needs to be aware of on the topic of age discrimination.

We've looked at some but make sure you go more in depth and truly protect yourself and your company from any possible age discrimination lawsuits.


                   



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