Human Resource Blog

ADEA New Mexico

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What do I need to know about the ADEA in New Mexico?

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act is a federal Act that applies to many employees in all states across the U.S. However, it is important to know that the Act does not apply to all employees or all companies in the country. In order for an employee and a company to qualify for coverage, the employee and the company need to meet specific requirements.

For the employee to qualify for coverage, the employee needs to be at least 40 years old and needs to work for a company that is covered. A covered company is a company that has at least 20 employees that work in a business that impacts interstate commerce. Those 20 employees only qualify as employees, according to the ADEA, if they have worked for the company for at least 20 weeks out of the preceding year.

Also, employment agencies qualify for coverage in every state, as do government agencies. For a government agency to qualify for coverage, it needs to be a state, local, or federal government agency.

When an employee and an employer are both covered by the ADEA, the employer may not discriminate against the employee based on the age of the employee. Thus, the employer may not take age into consideration when making personnel decisions, such as a hiring decision or one that impacts promotions, terminations, training, or salary.

While an employer may not discriminate against an employee based on the age of the employee, the employer may legally be able to discriminate against an employee for reasons that may be a result of age. For example, it is legal for an employer to transfer or terminate an employee that is unable to perform the functions of a job as a result of the age of the employee. The employer is required to provide evidence that the employee, if asked, to demonstrate how the decision was based on performance and not on age. CB