What Protections Do I Have Against Age Discrimination in Florida?

When you work in Palm Beach Gardens or for an employer nearby in Florida, you may have protections against age discrimination in the workplace under federal and/or state law. Age discrimination is just one type of employment discrimination, but it takes specific forms. Depending upon your age, and the number of employees in your workplace (or prospective workplace), you could be able to hold an employer accountable who has discriminated against you on the basis of your age. Our Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination lawyers can explain in more detail how age discrimination laws work and what protections employees have in Florida workplaces.

Federal Protections Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)

 The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against employees (or prospective employees, such as job applicants) on the basis of age if the employee or applicant is 40 years old or older. This law applies to employers with at least 20 employees in their workplace. To be clear, if an employer has fewer than 19 employees, those employees and any prospective employees or applicants are not protected. It is also important to be clear that the ADEA does not protect against age discrimination if the employee or applicant is under the age of 40.

Claims under the ADEA are handled by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC clarifies that this particular federal law protects employees or applicants against age discrimination at age 40 or older in any of the following capacities:

• Hiring;
• Promotion;
• Discharge;
• Compensation; and/or
• Terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.

The ADEA specifically protects against discrimination based on the employee or applicant being “too old.”

Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA) and Age Discrimination Protections 

The Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA) also provides protections against a wide range of employment discrimination, including age discrimination. This law applies to employers in Palm Beach Gardens and throughout Florida that employ 15 or more employees, and it provides protections against age discrimination regardless of your age.

To be clear, this law protects you against discriminatory conduct from a current or prospective employer on the basis that you are too old or too young. There is no minimum age for the FCRA to protect against age discrimination, as there is with the ADEA. The FCRA provides similar protections as the ADEA, however, including protections against age discrimination in hiring, promoting, discharging, compensation, or otherwise providing terms or conditions or privileges of employment.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Age Discrimination Lawyer 

Age discrimination occurs more often than you might expect in hiring processes, promotion decisions, and other aspects of employment. For example, an employer might attempt to hire younger employees by advertising for recent college graduates, or an employer might terminate a group of older employees in order to hire younger workers in the same positions. Sometimes employers might discriminate against employees by refusing to promote employees of a particular age, or providing benefits only to employees of a certain age. If you believe you have been subject to age discrimination in a Florida workplace context, it is important to seek legal help. An experienced Palm Beach Gardens age discrimination attorney at Sconzo Law Office can speak with you today about your case.

Sources:

dol.gov/general/topic/discrimination/agedisc#:~:text=The%20Age%20Discrimination%20in%20Employment,conditions%20or%20privileges%20of%20employment

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0112/Sections/0112.044.html