Learning, not litigating: Managing employee development and avoiding claims of age discrimination

Abstract

Executive Overview Is there age discrimination in training and development within your organization? Are older employees being left behind when it comes to continuous learning? The increasing importance of continuous learning and development for employees, combined with a graying of the workforce, makes these questions serious ones for administrators striving both to maintain competitive human resources and stay out of court. Comparing behavioral and legal perspectives, this article explores the possibility that age may explain differences in treatment of workers, and whether this could affect terms, conditions, or privileges of employment in a significant way. From a behavioral perspective, differences in treatment in this area could be a detriment to older workers. From a legal perspective, differences in treatment by age could be used as evidence of discrimination: however, older employees asserting legal claims based solely on inadequate learning opportunities may face an uphill battle. Could age-related effects on training and development opportunities become increasingly actionable from a legal perspective? Current trends suggest that they could. Four categories of recommendations are made that may help avert age discrimination in training and development.

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