It's been 50 years since legislation was created to protect workers over 40 from age discrimination.

Are they any better off? The EEOC wants to know.

The question is more relevant than ever because many employees haven't saved enough to retire and must continue to work. And the economy needs older workers in the workforce.

At a public commission meeting marking the 50^th anniversary of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it is seeking written comments from the public on matters discussed at the meeting.

At the meeting, Jenny Yang, EEOC commissioner, pointed out some of the strategies employers use to “weed out” older workers when seeking to fill a position, including

capping experience levels in job advertisements (such as requests for candidates with “up to five years” or “three to five years” of related experience)
having a mandatory retirement age
asking for “digital native” job applicants who grew up with technology, as opposed to those who learned it later in life

Yang also highlighted the agency’s $12 million age bias settlement with Texas Roadhouse. While the restaurant chain admitted no wrongdoing, it agreed to settle after the EEOC brought charges that it violated the ADEA by refusing to hire older workers for such front-of-the-house positions as servers, hosts and bartenders.

The Society for Human Resource Management reports that the ADEA, which was passed in 1967, is intended to protect “most job applicants and employees who are ages 40 and older from discrimination based on age in employment decisions, such as hiring, promotion, termination and compensation decisions.”

Victoria Lipnic, acting chair of the EEOC, said that now that the ADEA itself has reached middle age, it’s “the time in life when we assess our accomplishments and take a fresh look at how things have changed over time.”

To that end, Lipnic said that the ADEA’s principle—that ability matters, not age—is more relevant than ever because of the large numbers of older Americans who need to work and the need of the economy itself to have them in the workforce.

While the ADEA and related state laws have made substantial progress in cutting age discrimination in the workplace, Lipnic noted that older workers still face employment barriers.

Those barriers hit workers of all races, ethnic backgrounds and income levels.

In addition, she said that women have filed more age discrimination claims with the agency than men in recent years.

“Just as we would not make assumptions about a woman’s interests or abilities, we should not make assumptions about her because she has reached a certain age,” Lipnic is quoted saying at the meeting, adding that she hopes society can move beyond outdated assumptions based on age as they relate to a worker’s skill set.

Changing attitudes about older workers is necessary, particularly in an economy that actually needs older workers who are more skilled.

But recruiters don’t even necessarily know how to reach such job candidates, many of whom aren’t active in social networking, according to John Challenger, CEO of Chicago-based global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The meeting record will be held open for 15 days to allow public comment

Instant Insights /

50 years after age discrimination legislation, are workers over 40 safe?

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