Understanding the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, forbids workplace discrimination against those who are forty or older. The act applies to employers, but also covers membership within labor organizations and employment agencies. With the passage of this legislation, it became illegal for the groups above to refuse employment, discharge employees, or limit compensation and terms and conditions due to an individual’s age. Additionally, employers are forbidden from classifying employees in a way which deprives them from employment opportunities by age. Overall, the act was created to protect the aging American workforce.

The legislation was passed in 1967, when the U.S. Congress found that “in the face of rising productivity and affluence, older workers find themselves disadvantaged in their efforts to retain employment, and especially to regain employment when displaced from jobs.” It was found that employers were also found to be setting arbitrary age limits, and long-term unemployment was greatly harming the older population. Ultimately, Congress concluded that such

Individuals who believe they have been a target of age discrimination in their workplace, they have a 180 day period to file their claim. This law has successfully reduced age discrimination in the American workforce by enabling the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to address perpetrating employers through “conciliation, conference, and persuasion” as well as the compensation of “unpaid minimum wages and unpaid overtime compensation.” Only one group of individuals were exempted from this legislation: business executives. Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, employers can still enforce a mandatory retirement based on age for executives over the age of