OutSolve’s EEO colleague, Toni Ahl, is an occasional contributor to our blog. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to Toni and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of OutSolve or its employees.
The Age Discrimination in Employment act (ADEA) was enacted in 1967. Originally the enforcement for the ADEA was assigned to the Department of Labor (DOL). The enforcement authority for the ADEA, as well as the Equal Pay Act (EPA), was transferred from the DOL to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1980.
The original ADEA protected employees age 40 to 65 years old. Protection under the ADEA ended when employees reached the age of 65. In 1978, the ADEA was amended to increase the upper age limit to 79. In 1986, the ADEA was again amended and the upper age limit was abolished for most employment sectors. There are some exceptions that allow for retirement at 70 such as public safety positions.
In 1967, when the ADEA was enacted, Congress had studies done and determined that many employers began treating employees differently when they reached age 40. At that time, many people retired at age 62. In addition, the life expectancy was not as long as it is now. Many people no longer believe that people who are age 40 are that old. Quite a few employees work well into their 70s.
The ADEA has not been amended to change the age when employees have protection from discrimination due to age, 40 and over. The ADEA does protect older employees meaning that there can be discrimination within the protected age group, 40 and over. This means that an employee who is 60 can allege age discrimination if someone age 45 was treated better than they were and they believe the action was taken due to age. It is harder to prove age discrimination if the gap between the ages is five years or less but not impossible.
Employees may allege harassment based on their age. That could happen when a supervisor or coworkers make comments about another employee's age or refer to them in ways that would make them feel as is they are not valued members of the team due to their age. An example of this type of harassment would be a comment like, "We'd better slow down because Grandpa can't keep up." Or a comment like, "There's no need to send that person to training because you can't teach an old dog new tricks."
Claims of age discrimination can also be made on the grounds of disparate treatment based on age. In disparate treatment charges, one employee compares their treatment to those employees who are similarly situated and are of a different age. An example of this type of discrimination could be that an older employee alleges they were not given as much of a pay increase as younger employees and that the difference in the pay raise was due to their age.
Who knows what the future may hold for the ADEA? Congress could amend the ADEA to change the original age to gain coverage under the act, or continue to leave it as it stands. If your company or organization has questions about the ADEA, feel free to reach out to me at eeoadvantage@gmail.com.