How Old Are You? - Is it Legal ?

RetirementJobs.com Staff Writers

Would it be illegal if a recruiter asked, "How old are you?" If you are like the majority of age 50+ job seekers, I'll wager you answered with a confident "yes." Surprisingly, it is not illegal to ask a candidate their age - not a good idea perhaps, but not illegal. While it may fly in the face of what you know about the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the question itself is legal. What would be illegal is to use your age as a factor in any hiring or employment decisions. Seems like too fine a point? Well, like so much of antidiscrimination law, there are very lines between illegal behavior and illegal behavior that can be proven.

Be Prepared
How would you react if a recruiter asked you your age? While you may not be asked this precise question, you should know in advance of a phone or in-person interview, how you'll react and what you'll say. So much of what we believe or "know" about age discrimination is vague and often ambiguous - and bad news for age 50+ workers. Most of all, our opinions about age bias will influence our behavior during a job search and when employed. It's important to understand the principles of age discrimination law, but more important to understand how to deal with it.

Age bias in hiring and employment may be the last socially acceptable form of discrimination. While the ADEA makes age-based discrimination in hiring, pay, benefits, training, advancement and termination illegal, many people over the age of 50, and increasingly 40, believe that age bias still exists and affects them. Various surveys and research indicate that between 80% and 95% of people over age 50 believe that "age bias is a fact of life." The published statistics about age discrimination claims unfortunately don't support common perceptions about the actual extent and power of age bias.

What Do You Believe?
Rather than debate whether age discrimination is perception or reality, let's focus on what you can, and what you can't do to cope with concerns about age or length of work experience during a job search or in holding on to your current job. Normal job search anxiety is exaggerated by our fear, perhaps certainty, that we will confront age bias. Anticipation of age bias prevents age 50+ job seekers from mounting our best effort.

First, let's examine your age bias belief level. Be honest and ask yourself if you answer these statements with a "yes".

"My application or resume is never acknowledged"
"The interviewer was young enough to be my child - they don't value my experience"
"I'm passed over for additional training that I need to stay current"
"The jobs always go the young, good looking people"
"The minute they looked at my gray hair, I knew I had no chance"
"The promotions go to the young up-and-comers and experience is ignored"
"I was laid off and within a month a young person was hired to do my job"
"Whenever there is a layoff, the oldest go first"
"Employers will say that I'm overqualified and become bored with the job"
"I've heard comments about the "dinosaurs" and "old people" being in the way"

How did you do? Count your "yes" answers. One to three - You're the CEO, you're not 40 yet, or you don't talk enough with co-workers Four to six - You're on you're way to be convinced that you've been targeted for discrimination Seven or more - You're a true believer and a pretty safe bet your behavior and outlook will be adversely affected by your age bias concerns

I'm not trying to make light of concerns about age bias. I am trying to get you to think about what you can and cannot do about the reality, or self-fulfilling perceptions, of age bias.