Human Resource Blog

ADEA Basics

	Compensation
Employee Payroll Action Form W-4 Employee Withholding Allowance Cert. Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Direct Deposit Form Total Compensation Summary

	Hiring and Staffing
Complete Business Forms Kit CD Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Employment Application Long Form Substance Testing Consent Form Pre-Employment Reference and Background Check Employment Offer/Acknowledgment Receipt of Employee Handbook New Hire Survey

	HR Management
Confidential Employee Folder Confidential Employee Medical Folder Job File Worksheet Folder Daily EEO Applicant Flow Log Workplace Information Sheets Request to Inspect Personnel Files

	Labor Laws
Complete State & Federal Labor Law Posters 1 Year Compliance Protection Plan State ONLY Labor Law Posters Federal Labor Law Posters

Can you please explain what the ADEA is and how it affects our company?

Sure. The ADEA is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. This act was put in place in order to prohibit employers from discriminating against employees and potential employees based on their age. Specifically, the ADEA is in place to ensure that employers do not discriminate against employees that are aged 40 or older. Basically, the ADEA helps to ensure that businesses hire employees based on merit and do not avoid hiring employees simply because the employee is older than they would prefer.

The ADEA is intended to promote and even sometimes encourage the employment of older workers. Older workers, according to the ADEA, should not be discriminated against based on their age, but should be employed based on other factors, such as their ability.

Not all businesses are subjected to the terms of the ADEA though. While it is a federal Act, meaning that it will affect businesses across the country, the businesses have to meet certain criteria. For example, they will have to have 20 or more employees, the business will have to affect interstate commerce (such as manufacturing or transporting goods from state to state), and so forth. Also, in order for the employees to qualify as true employees under the conditions of the ADEA, those 20 employees must work a full workweek for 20 or more weeks in the current or the preceding calendar year.

Labor organizations, employment agencies, and the majority of federal, state and local government organizations are also subject to the terms of the ADEA, proving that the Act affects all businesses equally.

In terms of who the ADEA specifically protects: affected employees include any individuals that are employed by an employer. There are a very few limited exceptions to this Act for some state or government officials. Also, the ADEA includes U.S. citizens working within the U.S. as well as U.S. citizens working abroad for an American company.