Every day there is a greater tendency in our country to exercise age discrimination for the mature age labor force, increasing with this practice, massive unemployment.
It is no secret to anyone that employers reject job applicants - who offer maturity, stability, experience and good qualifications - simply because of age. Vacancy announcements blatantly proclaim maximum age limits for applicants.
In one way or another, companies exercise policies that frankly or covertly encourage employment discrimination based on age.
Under all considerations, age is too arbitrary a criterion to serve as an important consideration applicable to selection and promotion techniques.
Discrimination against older employees:
In companies, older employees experience another more covert discrimination: they are disregarded when promoting staff: they have less access to training courses; they are made to give up their jobs, or pressured to retire early, making way for younger people.
Employers' arguments:
Many employers note that the continued presence of the middle-aged employee restricts hiring and blocks the promotions of others, especially young people.
It is argued that mature people are unable to bear the physical exhaustion or mental strain of certain occupations;
That older employees are less adaptable and less flexible and consequently less efficient and productive;
Others are concerned that there will be more absences from work, due to illness and accidents, with an aging workforce;
Or, that it is too expensive to train a middle-aged employee, who will only serve the company a few years before his retirement.
Arguments Vs. Reality:
The arguments put forward are nothing more than a string of nonsense.
What the mature worker may lack in speed (in some positions) he makes up for in his maturity and experience.
It is not true that more is absent from work than younger staff. And there is even a greater chance that you will stay with the firm longer than your younger colleague.
When problems start:
The age at which people first encounter age problems varies according to the type of occupation in which they are engaged. Unfortunately, in our country an age standard has been generalized for any position, which is becoming shorter every day.
In an ILO report entitled "Older Workers: Work and Retirement", it is said that the problem of the aging workforce is serious and that it is becoming more acute every day. The ILO stresses in its report that the decrease in the number of jobs caused by the world economic recession is getting bigger every day.
Criteria in Europe:
An investigation carried out in the eighties by the International Management magazine, using opinion polls in 10 countries, randomly sending 3,000 formats to company managers and with usable results among those who answered the 29.3% questionnaires, found answers such as: which we will list below, in relation to age discrimination:
- "The question of age with respect to the performance of an occupation is only applicable in the case of an untrained adolescent or a man over 75 years old" - German Administrator. "Age has nothing to do with attitude" Manager French "Mental youth has nothing to do with physical age." Danish manager "There are people who are old at 30 and others who are young at 50". Administrator from Sweden "A good manager works well, whatever his age" Dutch Executive "If a candidate has the right experience and the necessary technical and human relations skills, we will hire him, whatever his age." Administrator of Switzerland "Results, not age, are the key factor in promoting our managers." Italian Executive. «Age is relative to human experience» English Executive."A person's attitude, experience, stability, enthusiasm and ability do not necessarily depend on age." German Executive.
Other criteria indicated that a "mature" manager, for example, has more judgment, a list of business contacts, loyalty, and less chance of leaving the firm. Likewise, that mature staff make better use of time and effort than their younger colleagues. Furthermore, it was insisted that mature executives instill greater respect than their younger colleagues.
Demand Vs. Supply
The figures provided by the National Statistics Department, in relation to the unemployment rate, surely base their research on the count of people not engaged in a productive activity, but to what extent it takes into account underemployment or people dedicated to "Rummaged", or the informal commerce, that we see daily grow in the most important cities of our geography.
On the other hand, at a professional level, year after year, the thousand and one universities scattered throughout the national territory, bring to the market a considerable number of new professionals, in a greater proportion than the generation of jobs in the country, thereby creating a demand for new jobs that do not exist.
We all know that our country has a high number of micro-companies, which in the long run are the ones that in one way or another absorb part of this new offer, but given their meager economic capacities, they cannot pay adequate salaries to these new group of professionals., undervaluing professions and trades, in their real dimension.
The Government as a generator of employment:
The administrative inefficiency and politicization of state companies have forced it, in Colombia, and in many other developing countries to sell their companies to individuals (Privatization), on the way to achieving productivity that they have not achieved under their administration. This could be a solution to the creation of jobs for really trained personnel, to replace them with some who hold positions without knowing them well or who know them inefficiently.
But, on the other hand, the situation could arise that in the face of so many bad experiences of governments in the management of state companies, they forget to continue working on one of their basic objectives, which is to work for the generation of jobs, endorsing this problem to the private sector only.
Experiences in other countries:
The National Council on Aging in the United States recommends that employers carry out selection tests that correspond to the basic requirements of the trades, instead of applying age limits without much foundation. The International Labor Organization (ILO) goes further and suggests that employees be examined for their motivation, powers of concentration and self-discipline, manual dexterity, and mental agility.
Law 15 of 1958. Forgotten or recast? NO, Tacitly repealed by Law 931 of 2004.
Need for clear legislation:
In Colombia, legislation against age discrimination was legislated through Law 15 of 1958 and establishes:
Art.1o. "All employers with more than 10 workers at their service must employ Colombians 40 years old in a proportion of not less than 10% of the total ordinary workers and not less than 20% of the qualified personnel of specialists or management or confidence"
Art. 3o. "Employers will report every six months to the corresponding Sectional Labor Office, how they have complied with this Law."
Paragraph: "The Ministry of Labor may impose successive fines up to an amount not less than five hundred pesos ($ 500.oo) to employers who evade compliance with the obligation referred to in this law."
And the Regulatory Decree, 1256/60 establishes:
Art. 1o. "As of the effective date of this Decree, all employers with more than ten (10) workers must send the Ministry of Labor, through the labor inspector of the home or the nearest place, every six months, in which state the number of workers at your service and the age of each one of them ».
Art. 2o. «If from said report, the inspector deduces that Colombian workers over forty (40) years of age, do not reach the proportion of ten percent (10%) of the total of ordinary workers and twenty (20%) over other workers qualified or management or trust, may impose successive fines of five hundred pesos ($ 500.oo) to two thousand pesos ($ 2,000.oo) until the respective employer proves compliance with the mandate contained in Article 1. of Law 15 of 1958 ».
Paragraph: "The sanction provided for in this article will not apply, if the employer demonstrates that no job applications have been made by Colombians over forty (40) years of age, or when having received them, he has not hired new personnel."
Art. 4th. "In the visits that the Ministry of Labor practices to companies, it should always be recorded as to the proportion that is dealt with in Article 1. of Law 15 of 1958, and if it is found that the aforementioned norm is not complied with, the respective official shall utter in the act a motivated Resolution imposing the corresponding sanctions, except as provided in the paragraph of article 2. of this decree ».
Art. 5o. "People who consider themselves injured by not complying with the provisions of Art. 1o. of Law 15 of 1958, may request the corresponding administrative investigation from the Ministry of Labor, which may also be carried out ex officio by labor inspectors.
Legislation in the USA:
In the US, companies have had to pay millions of dollars in lost lawsuits, since the Law that prohibits all forms of age discrimination in employment was passed 28 years ago (1968).
Companies like McDonnel Douglas, Ford, Westinghouse Electric, Boeing, Chrysler, Dow Chemicals, Pan-America, Shell, Coca-Cola, United Airlines, Exxon and Duponts, among other 400 firms have been sued, by private individuals alleging age discrimination, this not counting the legion of individuals who do not denounce the boss, for fear of making things worse by trying to find a new occupation.
In this sense, US firms have learned to document very carefully their reasons for firing a middle-aged employee, and many have improved their professional performance evaluation system, quantifying their performance, before thinking about separating staff older… although some believe that the most rigid evaluations, to measure performance, are already in principle a form of age discrimination.
Government practices in other countries:
Countries such as Canada, Finland, Israel and Mexico have taken actions prescribing different discriminatory practices, mainly oriented towards the protection of the middle-aged worker.
Break with the paradigms:
In our country, rather than legislating in order to provide people who are surpassed by what employers call 'the productive age limit', what must be done is to break with the paradigms and the myth that the 'adult' worker is incapable, he does not think, he lacks dynamism, his conservatism does not let him progress, etc., it is necessary to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the people who have already spent years and years in many companies putting their knowledge into practice, acquiring a deep experience, which It must be 100% exploited and unfortunately it is being wasted.
