Can a Potential Employer Ask About My Age?

If you apply for a job and get an interview, can a potential employer ask you about your age? Or, even if they do not ask you specifically about your age or your date of birth during the interview, can they ask questions about your high school or college graduation date, or other age markers that could give them a sense of how old you are? Generally speaking, if you are protected by the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) or the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA), questions about your age are likely unlawful. Our South Florida age discrimination lawyers can explain in more detail below, and we can discuss your case with you today so that you can move forward with a claim if necessary.

Age (40 and Over) as a Protected Class

If you are 40 or older, then you are part of what is known as a “protected class” under federal and state law. A protected class is a group of people who share a quality or identifying feature defined by law for which they are protected. When you are 40 or over, age makes you a member of a protected class with protections under state and federal law — on the basis of age. Other protected classes include race, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender, pregnancy, and more.

In sum, you have legal protections against age discrimination if you are 40 years old or over.

Potential Employers Cannot Ask Questions Designed to Determine Your Age

As a member of a protected class, potential employers cannot ask you direct questions about your age, or questions designed to determine your age, such that the employer could engage in unlawful age discrimination. Unlawful questions can be direct and specific, but they can also be cloaked in language that seems more vague and subtle. Examples of the types of questions that may be unlawful under age discrimination prohibitions include but are not limited to:

• How old are you?
• When were you born?
• Do you believe you are overqualified for this position?
• What year did you graduate from college?
• Are you comfortable with the types of technologies that younger workers are accustomed to?
• How many years have you been working for?
• Are you able to keep up with younger employees on the team?
• Do you have children, and if so, what are their ages?
• Where were you on September 11th, 2001 (or another major historical date that could signal age)?

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Age Discrimination Lawyer for Assistance with an Age Discrimination Case in South Florida 

If you interviewed for a job that you were not hired for, and you were asked direct or indirect questions concerning your age during the interview, you may have experienced age discrimination. Depending on the details of your case, you could be eligible to file a claim and to seek a remedy. As we discussed above, both federal and state law prohibit age discrimination against applicants aged 40 and older, and it is important to hold employers accountable when they engage in any kind of unlawful discrimination. One of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens age discrimination lawyers at Sconzo Law Office can discuss the details of your case with you today.

Sources:

eeoc.gov/age-discrimination

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0760/0760ContentsIndex.html