I. general overview
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), (1) the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), (2) and title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, (3) prohibition of discrimination against groups protected in the remuneration and the terms, conditions and privileges of employment. Law to pay equal (EPA) (4) prohibits wage discrimination based on sex. These laws require that all benefits plan in a non-discriminatory manner, unless otherwise provided by a statutory exception.
Many charges alleging discrimination in the social benefits of employees - including participation in profits and educational scholarships, leave - can be solved using standard theories of disparate treatment and disparate impact. The issues with regard to these types of services will be generally if the settlement was based on a protected classification or had a discriminatory effect, and whether the employer has a defence to such discrimination.
This Section of the compliance manual focuses on benefits that raise special problems: benefits of life and health insurance, long-term and short-term disability benefits, start, pension or other retirement benefits severance and early retirement incentives. These benefits based on the explicit legislative provisions of the ADEA, and the ADA, raise issues that cannot be resolved using the difference in standard treatment or impact assessments. This Section deals in depth with specific issues that are likely to arise when discrimination in these benefits is alleged.
II. services covered:
• Life insurance benefits
Life insurance benefits provide a monetary benefit to the insured or beneficiaries of the insured in case of death of the insured. Benefits are usually paid in a lump sum or, occasionally, in the form of an annuity, whereby the beneficiary gets periodic benefits for life.
• Medicare benefits
Health insurance benefits cover all or part of the costs incurred for medical care. Coverage can is limited to the employee, or can be extended to others who have a relationship with the employee, including the spouse or the dependent children of the employee. The amounts or types of coverage available may also be capped or limited.
• Disability in the short and long term
Disability benefits provide wage replacement for employees who are unable to work due to illness or injury. Some employers also provide a right of recall so that employees with disabilities can return to their jobs once they have recovered. Long-term benefits typically receive during a long time, although many plans of different mental and physical impairments in the determination of the duration of the benefit program. Short-term benefits are those which are available for more temporary conditions where the employer provides that the employee will be able to work again in a relatively short period of time. There is no specific amount of time that differentiates long-term from short-term disability benefits, and their purpose is the same.
• Pension benefits disability
As to long-term and short-term disability benefits, disability retirement benefits are paid to employees who are unable to work due to illness or injury. Unlike other disability benefits, disability retirement benefits are however generally payable until death, unless the employee is able to return to work. Therefore, they operate as a retirement benefit at the former employees. Disability pension benefits must be distinguished from service retirement benefits, which are paid to employees who have reached the age of retirement, have the required number of years of service, and/or meet the employer the other eligibility criteria.
• Employee severance benefits
Employee severance benefits are the benefits offered to employees who are laid off from their jobs. In many cases, severance pay will when an employee is terminated for reasons other than performance or conduct - that is to say, more generally, in reductions in force or downsizing due to economic or worries. Employee severance benefits can be provided based on a unilateral decision of the employer or by the terms of a collective agreement. The amount of severance paid varies also by the employer. For example, some employers have pay a set amount to all separated employees. Other little.
• Service benefits retirement
Retirement benefits provide former employees with a source of income after the termination of their employment. These benefits are called a pension or retirement from service. They can be distributed in a lump sum or annuity that is paid periodically for life.
Among other criteria, employers usually require employees to achieve a "normal retirement age", and/or have made a number of years of service to qualify for retirement-"unreduced" - full benefits. " Employers sometimes permit employees who leave work before market reaching the required age or years of service to retire reduced retirement benefits.
In most cases, retirement benefits are offered through defined benefit or plans defined contribution (or through a combination of the two). Under a defined benefit plan, the employer applies a specific formula to calculate each employee's pension and promises to pay this benefit once the employee becomes eligible. Formulas vary depending on the employer and may be based on the age of the employee, the years of service, salary level, or a combination of these or other criteria.
Under a defined contribution plan, the employer makes set contributions to individual accounts for each Member of the plan. The amount of the retirement benefit then depends on the remuneration of the employee's account. A plan '401 (k)' is an example of a defined contribution plan. As is the case of the defined benefit plans, the amount of the employer contributions, as well as the formula by which the contributions are calculated, will depend on the particular employer.
• Early retirement incentives
In some cases, employers may offer employees the possibility of taking early retirement – in other words, before having reached the normal age of retirement or served the required number of years - in Exchange for additional benefits that employees would have otherwise been entitled. Employers sometimes offer these incentives, aimed at encouraging employees to take a voluntary early retirement, as a means of addressing financial worries which otherwise could redundancies.
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