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The aging U.S. workforce presents legal and management policy challenges to employers and human resource professionals. These include how to recruit, hire, manage and train employees with sound business practices that do not discriminate against workers based on age.

Have you looked at your employment practices lately? Are they age-neutral? Have you reviewed your employment policies and practices to ensure that they comply with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and other state and local age discrimination laws?

Here are some general guidelines to consider when hiring older workers:

Lawful or Not Under the ADEA

As a general rule, it is not unlawful under the ADEA to fill part-time positions predominantly with older workers. However, problems may arise under the ADEA if older workers are routinely channeled into part-time positions and not considered for full-time work. The potential danger here would be magnified if part-time employment lacked some (or all) of the employee benefits granted to full-time work. An employer who gets caught in this trap runs the risk of appearing to want to hire only cheap (older) labor.

Avoid Trouble

One way to avoid problems in this area is to ask all applicants -- regardless of age -- whether they wish to be considered for full or part-time work. Employers should consider devising a system of internal review that provides priority considerations to all internal applicants who want to be considered for alternative work schedules (either from part-time to full-time or vice versa). When filling part-time positions, employers should not overlook their ongoing obligations to provide non-discriminatory consideration to all applicants for all vacancies.

Age discrimination in hiring is often difficult to detect but certain actions on the part of human resource professionals with responsibilities for interacting with prospective job seekers may provide clues that discrimination has taken place: For example:

• A woman with experience in banking is being interviewed for a loan officer position. The interviewer looks at her background and says, "I’m sure that you won’t be interested in this position with your experience; it’s an entry-level job."
• A retiree applies for part-time employment and is told by the interviewer that the company’s products are targeted to younger persons and he is not sure how she would "fit in with the other younger workers."
• An older man who has just been laid off applies for a job at a new plant that he knows is hiring. The receptionist turns him away saying, "We aren’t hiring now." The next day he sees an advertisement for the job he sought at the plant.
• At age 55, a woman applies for a full-time job with a computer company. The position requires a year’s training on the job. The hiring manager questions her about plans for retirement, emphasizing that the company wants to maximize its investment in training, and asks her to consider applying for a part-time position that does not require training.

Note: Discrimination in hiring on the basis of age is permitted in rare circumstances where age is a bona fide occupational qualification for a particular job. An example of such an occupation would be a model for junior clothing.

Informing your managers concerning the legal issues of communicating with staff on the ADEA is one way of avoiding costly litigation which may follow age discrimination violations in the hiring process.

Other Considerations

This is only a brief review of the implications of the ADEA for part-time versus full-time work. State laws may impose additional requirements, as can the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal pension statute. In all cases, you are advised to consult an experienced labor or employment discrimination attorney if you have any questions.

AARP Resources

AARP Litigation on Age Discrimination
Read the outcomes of the age discrimination cases filed by AARP.

AgeLine Database
If the latest research and information on older worker employment issues and best practices interests you, AARP’s online AgeLine Database is a searchable database including over 65,000 book and article summaries, research reports, policy papers and video summaries. Searching is free, but the number of searchers at any one time is limited

Age Discrimination Law – The Slow Drag to 2006
The European Directive on Equal Treatment requires all fifteen EU member states to introduce legislation prohibiting discrimination in employment on the grounds of age, sexual orientation, religion and belief, and disability by 2006.

Age Equity in Employment: A Checklist
How do your company’s employment does practices rate in age equity?

Boomers Discover Age Bias
The number of age bias complaints filed with the EEOC is climbing.

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