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CCH® HR MANAGEMENT - 11/02/09

Employers are seeing increase in age discrimination claims

With age discrimination claims up 29 percent this year, employers are taking a long look at their policies and training programs. Preventing age discrimination in the workplace requires not only that strong policies and training programs are in place, but also that employees know and understand the rules, particularly in these troubled economic times.

“We’re seeing an increase in age discrimination claims because of the volume of reductions in force that are occurring throughout the country,” said Janine Yancey, HR lawyer and CEO of emTRAiN. “Any different group can make a claim that they are adversely affected by reductions in the workforce, but there do seem to be more age discrimination claims than others, in large part due to age being associated with disproportionally high salaries.”

Time to update diversity programs. HR is faced with the difficult challenge of balancing three to four culturally different generations in today’s workplace. “HR needs to issue policies in a way that whatever they are saying within the organization will not have a disproportionate effect on older workers,” said Yancey. “Although diversity programs may already exist in an organization, they should be updated to include generational diversity.”

Everyone needs training. Once programs are updated and you are ready to implement them, you will need to set up training sessions, to be attended by all management and all “rank and file” employees. “It is important to have this training across the board,” said Yancey. “The potential expense of yet another training seminar may seem daunting, but there are cost-effective options. For example, some organizations are turning to online training methods.”

“In addition, HR should try pairing up older workers with younger workers so that they can learn from each other,” Yancey concluded. “HR Professionals should be aware that there are many stressors in the workforce through different generations with different work styles/ work habits. The economic conditions put stress on us all. I suggest that HR professionals think of innovative strategic ways to create a team environment to learn from each other.”

Source: Interview conducted by CCH, a Wolters Kluwer company, of Janine Yancey, HR lawyer and CEO of emTRAiN.

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