AGE DISCRIMINATION

Age Discrimination

Age Discrimination

Introduction

America is a culture in which youth is valued. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) was passed to encourage the employment of individuals over 40 years of age. Later, it was amended to discontinue mandatory retirement, thereby shifting the requirement for employment from age to ability. There are exceptions. Companies can force executives in high policy-making positions to retire at age 65. Under the ADEA, employers with 20 or more workers (including labor unions, the federal government and employment agencies) are prohibited from:

Discriminating against workers age 40 and older in any aspect of employment solely because of age, including hiring, firing, pay, benefits and work conditions;

Indicating age preferences (such as “recent college graduate”) in job advertisements; and

Retaliating against a worker for complaining about age discrimination or for helping the government investigates a discrimination charge (ADEA, 1967).

Discussion

age discrimination in employment hardly existed in mid-19th- century America. “The elderly, along with all others, were expected to remain economically and socially useful as long as they were physically able to do so,” Judith C. Hushbeck wrote in a 1989 book. “In fact, a popular and quintessentially Protestant prescription against deterioration in later life was more work, not a retreat from it in retirement. The fact that the elderly offered a reservoir of knowledge and experience conferred upon them unique economic value as 'living encyclopedias.' This was especially true in agriculture, which prior to the Civil War accounted for approximately 60 percent of all paid labor and a vast majority of all workers over the age of 60.” (Alexander, 2008)

For the most part, workers of a century ago stayed on the job until poor health or failing strength made it impossible to continue. Even after ceasing to be wage-earners, those not totally disabled usually were able to perform tasks of value as members of large families, particularly farm households. There was little public discussion of a suitable age for retirement because few, except the rich, could enjoy able-bodied retirement. (Fischer, 2007)

ADEA History

According to Friedan (2003) soon afterward, the emphasis shifted from retiree benefits to age- related job bias. President Lyndon B. Johnson led the way in 1964 by issuing an executive order banning age discrimination in work performed under federal contracts. The same year, during congressional debate on the Civil Rights Act, an amendment was proposed to make “age” a protected class along with race, color, national origin, religion and gender. Although Congress rejected the idea, it directed Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz to study the problem. (Friedan, 2003)

Wirtz's report, issued June 30, 1965, said his department had found “no evidence of prejudice based on dislike or intolerance of the older worker.” Nonetheless, he said the setting of age limits beyond which an employer would not consider a worker for a job, regardless of ability, “has become a characteristic practice in those states which do not prohibit such action.” Consequently, he called for a “clear-cut and implemented federal policy” against age discrimination (Wirtz, ...