Age Discrimination

• Pages: 32-35

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Age discrimination is the practice of letting a person's age unfairly become a factor when deciding who receives a new job, a promotion, or other job benefit. It most commonly affects older workers who feel they have been discriminated against in favor of younger workers, but there have been cases involving younger workers being displaced by older workers. A 2005 survey of 2,600 human resource professionals and managers, published jointly by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Chartered Management Institute, found that 60 percent of the respondents claimed to have experienced some form of age-related discrimination. However, the survey also showed that much progress has been made over the last decade on reducing age-related discrimination. The number of respondents in the survey who reported having been passed over for promotion based on age dropped by 50 percent since the same question was asked in the 1995 survey.

One factor that may be involved in the changing perception of age-related discrimination is the changing demographic picture of the U.S. workforce. "With 76 million baby boomers approaching retirement age,

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retaining older workers is not so much a choice as a necessity," explains Alicia Barker, vice president of human resources for the firm Hudson North America. She discusses, in an article entitled "Age Discrimination Visible, But U.S. Businesses Urge Older Workers to Stay on the Job," the need for companies to establish policies that encourage older workers to stay on the job. The need for such policies is not only in order to avoid costly discrimination lawsuits but also by way of preparing for the coming shift in the labor force that will occur as baby boomers retire.

THE ADEA

Age discrimination has officially been a major employment issue since 1967, when the U.S. government passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The act's stated purpose is "to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment." Specifically, the act prevents employees over the age of 40 from being unfairly fired, demoted, or offered reduced pay or benefits, and it makes it illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of age in regard to any employment benefits. Older and younger workers must receive access to equal benefits, which generally include: the same payment options; the same type of benefits, such as health care and pension; and the same amount of benefits. The ADEA applies to companies with more than 20 employees that are "engaged in industry affecting commerce." Only true employees are covered; independent contractors are not.

There are exceptions to these rules, but they are few in number and closely monitored. For example, companies are allowed to offer early retirement incentives to older...