Rojgar Job News

Earlier this week, I made my long-awaited (ok, long-awaited by ME) return on WNPR’s ever-popular “Where We Live” show. As always, I’m thankful for the invite. My appearances date back quite some time (remember pizza and child labor in 2010?), so it was nice to be back in the studio to talk about age discrimination and other workplace issues. So, is age discrimination still a problem? The answer is plainly “yes”. A related question, though is how MUCH of a problem? And is it getting better or worse? By one measure, it’s been going down in a noticeable way the last several years.  In 2008 for example, there were over 24,500 charges filed on age grounds; in 2017 – it was down below 18,500 – a drop of over 20 percent. Statistics, though, only tell part of the story because historically, you’d expect more to see more charges in a recession than an improving economy. An article by The New York Times over the winter raised concer...

The EEOC has long advised that asking about date of birth on job applications was a particularly bad idea. The ADEA does not explicitly prohibit an employer from asking an applicant’s age or date of birth. However, such inquiries may deter older workers from applying for employment or may otherwise indicate possible intent to discriminate based on age, contrary to the purposes of the ADEA. If the information is needed for a lawful purpose, it can be obtained after the employee is hired. That’s why most employers don’t ask about that or asking about high school graduation dates too, since both of those questions could be said to make it easier for employers to discriminate against older applicants. Now, legislators claim to have reached consensus to pass a bill in Connecticut explicitly prohibiting it. As first reported by CT Mirror, the legislation would be similar to a bill that was introduced in 2019. Last year’s bill followed “ban the box” requirem...