The Law Protects You From Age Discrimination on the Job

Two Laws

There are two federal laws that address age discrimination. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older from discrimination in employment, including in the application stage. ADEA is administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 prohibits discrimination based on age in any program or activity that received federal assistance and is administered by the Civil Rights Center. This hub will focus on the ADEA.

No Protection Under 40

An important point to note is that the ADEA does not provide protection to those under the age of 40. Basically, an employer can tell you that they are looking for a more mature applicant or that you are too young without fear under this law. ADEA provides age discrimination protection only to those over the age of 40. This is a facet of the law that bothers me less as I get older.

What Does it Mean?

For a law that covers only one area of discrimination, the ADEA covers a lot of ground and a lot of different scenarios. The law is meant to prevent discrimination based on age regarding any term of employment. Here are a few that highlight the protections afforded by the law.

• Apprenticeship or Internship Programs: An employer cannot discriminate against older applicants as their sole basis for selection. You cannot be told that you are "too old" for such programs.
• Harassment: As you would expect, harassment on the basis of age is not allowed. If you find yourself subjected to repeated comments about your age, it's probably time to talk to the HR Department and/or your supervisor.
• Benefits: Simply put, the employer cannot deny benefits to anyone simply because of age. As would be expected, we're all more expensive to insure as we age and this law prevents an employer from using this in employment decisions.
• Application Process: We're now all used to seeing questions that ask if we are over 18 years of age on an application rather than being asked for our date of birth. This is as a result of the ADEA. The ADEA is also responsible for most employers not asking for dates of school enrollment during the application process. Lastly, this law has resulted in employers leaving off any hint of age preference in their employment advertising.

Waiving Your Rights

If you read nothing else in this Hub, please read this. The ADEA specifically addresses the ability of the employer to have the employee waive his or her rights under ADEA. This may happen as part of a settlement of a claim, the termination of employment or perhaps an incentive to voluntarily resign/retire. You can waive your rights, but the employer must inform you that are doing so IN WRITING. The employer must put the waiver in writing, in an understandable format and must refer to your ADEA rights. There must also be some exchange of value for this waiver, a period of 21 days to consider the waiver and a 7-day period in which the waiver can be revoked. Simply put, read it, have an attorney read it and then make the right decision for you.

Final Thoughts

The ADEA is one of the simpler labor laws in the United States. It straightforwardly addresses discrimination based on age for those over the age of 40 in all stages of employment. If at any point you feel that your employer or a prospective employer is making a decision affecting your employment, benefits, promotion, pay or the like based on your age, it is time to start asking questions and gathering information.

If you would like to read more about other laws and how they affect you at work, please click here to visit my other labor law hubs.