Book Opener

AMERICANS WITHDISABILITIES ACTThe federal government hasattempted to open employmentopportunities for workers withdisabilities by passing theAmericans with Disabilities Act.What accommodations mighta company have to make for anemployee who is blind?470 Unit 4: Being an Agent and Getting a Jobdiscriminate against a woman because ofchildbirth or physical problems associatedwith pregnancy or childbirth. In addition,the law prohibits an employer from creatingan employee benefits package thatdiscriminates against women who arepregnant.Age Discrimination inEmployment ActThe Age Discrimination in EmploymentAct (ADEA) of 1967, amended in1978, prohibits employment agencies,employers with 20 or more employees,and labor unions of more than 25 members from discriminating on thebasis of age. This act forbids discrimination against any person aged 40or older in hiring, firing, promotion, or other aspects of employment. Thelaw does not apply if age is a true job qualification, as in the modelingof children’s fashions.The ADEA was amended by Congress in 1990 to make it clear thatthe act forbids discrimination against older employees with regard totheir retirement and pension plans. In addition, the amendment that isknown as the Older Workers’ Benefit Protection Plan Act (OWBPPA)gives workers a legal way to remedy a situation in which they have beencheated or coerced into surrendering their ADEA rights by signinga waiver.Americans with Disabilities ActThe Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 forbids discriminationon the basis of a disability if the disabled individual can do the “essentialfunctions” of a job. The act defines disability as any “physical ormental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major