And You Thought It No Longer Matters

by: Atty. Gabriel Cosh

It is quite simple that is, age is directly proportional to one’s skill and knowledge. Meaning that as a person is chiselled by time and experience, the more he becomes an asset to the working environment he is serving. Consequently, being an asset to the corporation he is working in, his compensation increases, and benefits increased. The irony is that in the present day and age, this is a misnomer. Age in the present time is perceived as a disease, slowly creeping up an individual with every year that passes. It serves as a degenerative illness that makes the aged employee weak, and prone to mistakes that would be detrimental to the interest of the company, which at the end of the day is utilized as the proximate reason why an employee is removed from work. This situation is detrimental to the purpose a working environment which must aim to provide a good life for its employees, particularly those who spent a huge bulk of their lifetime producing for the company. Removing them at this sensitive stage, would be nothing more than adding insult to injury. Labor is a social economic force, so essential in fact that without it the production process would not be as progressive as it is in the present time. Hence, the state, with all the pervasive powers vested in it, assumes the responsibility in protecting the same. But despite laws passed protecting the rights and welfare of the working force in society, still the fact that their rights are trumped upon and abused is still a given. An employee who has been removed on the sole basis that he has aged has a cause of action against the employer that did the same. A vested right to file a case for discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age is prevalent in this scenario. As the case usually is, the employer tries to find any other ground to terminate the services of an employee aside from the fact that he is already old. Reasons ranging from he is not competent to comply with the rigors of work, a sudden complaint of management or customers, or a dismissal on the ground of redundancy or to save on cost. Yet our experience has it, that these are merely a distraction fro what the proximate cause really is, and that is because of the age of the employee.

About The Author
Atty Gabriel Cosh is a legal advocate and a practitioner of law for over 10 years now. He is also an expert in the field of social legislation and personal injury cases. For more information about Employment law please log on to http://www.mesrianilaw.com/Employment-Law.html

Termination in the Advent of New Life

by: Atty. Gabriel Cosh

If you are an employee, one of the greatest news that could ever be delivered to you is the fact that you are about to rear a new child. This coupled with the fact that you have been preparing all your life for that other individual to enter your life. Be that as it may, knowledge that you are pregnant, may actually bring about contradicting opinions and actions from people around you. Let us consider how your employer would react at this situation. Two things may happen upon your employer acquiring the said knowledge. First, if your employer acts in consonance with the laws set forth on the protection of the working women in the production environment then he would squarely follow the laws of the land and give you the rights afforded by law. Maternity leave, which are paid days off from work, and the fact that after your pregnancy you will be retained to your previous work position. Or the other thing that may happen, is that your employer can find a way to terminate your services on the sole basis of your pregnancy. As per experience, and with the capitalist society we are living in right now, the latter is the obvious reaction of your employer. Discriminating an individual on the basis of pregnancy is an unfair labor practice which the law abhors. The Fair Employment and Housing Act outlines the protection afforded to the pregnant employee for disability brought about by pregnancy, childbirth and other related medical conditions. The law favors in fact that they may be transferred to duties that would require lesser strain, and is medically advised to have the same. Yet employers always find a way of having acts that run counter to this substantive law. They may either find proofs to show that with the present physical condition of the employee she can no longer comply with the essential rigors of her work. Or that reasons removing her are far fetched from her physical condition. Ultimately, if the employee is removed having her pregnancy as a factor for her termination, then the employer would be liable for unlawful discrimination, and a cause of action may be had against it.

About The Author
Atty Gabriel Cosh is a legal advocate and a practitioner of law for over 10 years now. He is also an expert in the field of social legislation and personal injury cases. For more information about Retirement benefits and Employment law please log on to http://www.mesrianilaw.com/Employment-Law.html

Specialization of Labor - Alienation

by: Atty. Gabriel Cosh

The logic seems to be a no brainer, that is with the continuous increase in the number of employees, the cheaper their services become. A simple construction of the law on supply and demand dictates that when supply for a particular factor in the production process is abundant, then the reaction is that the cost in acquiring said factor would be decreased because of competition. This is what happens when what is talking are the numbers. Now consider what is not seen, consider the eventual effect of an increase in the number of labor force, and the constant decrease in the value thereof. Would it actually be detrimental to the production process? Or would it foster a more dynamic and accountable production force? The answer, with history standing as a witness is obvious, and that is when labor has been deduced to mere numbers, a working man merely considered as a number in the production process, then that would actually alienate the worker from the duty he is trying to fulfill, and consequently lead to negative effects to the production process. When an employee is merely an incident in the production process, and when it is viewed merely as a number in the workforce, then such employee usually loses his identity, and works as though he is already a machine. As like that of a machine, he becomes so indulged to that part of the production process that he specializes and more often than not removes himself away from the picture of the complete production process. This alienation is detrimental to the working force. Primarily because he loses sight of the bigger picture, and he has this impression that what he is doing is already the be all and end all of his worth. With specialization, an individual is removed from the realm of finding a way to prosper himself, and to learn other things in the production process. With this continuous trend in our capitalist production state, then we will soon the day that these employees would perceive themselves as machines, cold and stiff machines.

About The Author
Atty Gabriel Cosh is a legal advocate and a practitioner of law for over 10 years now. He is also an expert in the field of social legislation and personal injury cases. For more information about Retirement benefits and Employment law please log on to http://www.mesrianilaw.com/Employment-Law.html