In order to help protect those who stand to be singled out and let go because of the unfairness of ageism, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) was designed with the older employee in mind. The issue at hand is that companies are not willing to look beyond their aging workforce, choosing instead to push them out of the technological loop rather than attempting to incorporate them as valuable assets. In our culture, the general perception is that with youth comes energy, imagination, and innovation. With age comes decreasing interest, lack of innovation and imagination, and a lessening of the quality of the person (Bennett, 2001, p. 410-411).

Job seekers are reporting age discrimination beginning as early as the mid-thirties. How can this be addressed? What options are the

- You didn't get hired because the employer wanted a younger looking person to do the job.

The 1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects most workers 40 and older from discrimination in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, pay, benefits, firing, layoffs, retirement and other employment practices. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for receiving charges of age discrimination under the ADEA, investigating them, and working to remedy the causes (Employment Law).

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The Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 (OWBPA) amended the ADEA to specifically prohibit employers from denying benefits to older employees. An employer may reduce benefits based on age only if the cost of providing the reduced benefits to older workers is the same as the cost of providing benefits to younger workers (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

Yet, a 1992 Harris survey of 400 companies found that only one in eight companies surveyed sees an urgent need to respond to the aging of the work force. Just one in three offers older workers the chance to transfer to jobs with less responsibility and only one in five offers phased retirement (Doyle).

Doyle, Allison. The Gray Ceiling. Available at: http://jobsearch.about.com/careers/jobsearch/library/weekly/aa050700b.htm?rnk=r8&terms=age+discrimination.

The ADEA applies to employers with 20 or more employees. It also applies to employment agencies, labor organizations and the federal government. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, however, the ADEA does not apply to state governments (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

Administration on Aging. Age Discrimination: A Pervasive and Damaging Influence. Available at: http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/factsheets/ageism.html

>From 1991 to 1995, an average of 17,000 workers annually brought age discrimination complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Commonwealth Fund report notes, however, that the EEOC has a constant backlog of charges to investigate and, due to limited resources, can pursue only a few strategically targeted court cases. The report urges Congress to provide funds and establish statutory authority for the EEOC to conduct audits and reviews of company practices to test for age discrimination in the workplace (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

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Approximate Word count = 2211
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)