Employment law is an evolving area and a necessity to understand for any business. The failure to have strong Equal Employment policies, follow the correct steps, or to document an action can have expensive consequences to any business.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Age Discrimination still remains a significant and costly issue. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects individuals 40 years of age and over from discrimination in any decision made during the full cycle of employment including everything from hiring, termination, pay, job duties and more. Fifty years after its enactment, one in four discrimination claims are still related to ageism according to the EEOC.
Although significant strides have been made to improve the administration of human resources across companies, lawsuits claiming age discrimination continue. In 2018, the EEOC resolved 90,558 allegations of discrimination for victims that reported them. These resolutions culminated in EEOC helping the victims secure settlements from their employers which span across private, state and local government, and federal establishments.
As stated by lawyer, Tatiana Leal González, of the firm Jackson Lewis, LLC, “The important thing is to have adequate prevention management, which affects minimizing the risks of long and expensive litigation. Through effective communication, you can reach solutions without going to court”.
Suggested Tips To Help Mitigate Exposure!
Do you want your business to become a statistic and get caught up in costly claims? Below are a few suggested tips to help mitigate exposure related to age discrimination:
- Stay attuned to an individual’s talent, skills, and experience
- Do not include questions about the applicant’s birth date as well as references to age-related dates such as high school graduation on your organization’s employment application
- Provide training to all employees on age discrimination laws especially to those that are supervising staff
- Encourage employees to report all forms of harassment including age discrimination
If employers are considering downsizing, they should have in place clear objective - criteria on which to base layoff decisions
Help When You Need It Most
Berkley FinSecure recognizes the need of the financial services industry for sound, reliable employment practices risk management advice. Therefore we have partnered with Jackson Lewis, one of the largest law firms in the country focused on employment practices law, to provide our Employment Practices Liability (EPL) insureds with risk management services.
Our EPL customers receive unlimited access to our toll free
EPL Carry-Thru Help Line at 844-866-1964. For additional services provided to insureds please click here.
Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/adea50th/report.cfm
Make Sure Your Financial Institution Clients Have the Right Coverage!
Contact any one of the FI insurance experts below for help in making sure your FI customers have the right coverage from a strong, stable company!
| Northeast Region Jeanne Shrum 207-415-4587 [email protected] |
Southeast Region Scott Mynatt 770-495-5967 [email protected] |
| Midatlantic Region Dave Cassel 443-987-8619 [email protected] |
South Region Scott Harris 512-800-5393 [email protected] |
| Midwest Region Sean Gleason 312-469-6990 [email protected] |
Northwest Region Pete Verretto 206-802-3076 [email protected] |