The Age Discrimination in Employment (ADEA) of 1967
The basic purpose of ADEA is to provide protection to certain applicants or employees who are 40 years of age and older. ADEA protects from discrimination on the basis of age discrimination in hiring, job promotion, discharge, reimbursement, or any other benefits or privileges of employment like for example insurance or pension plans.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) became law in 1967. This act can be traced back to 1964 when Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act was enacted by United States government. Work life in the U.S. was radically changed by the enactment of this 1964 Civil Rights Act. The main purpose of the Title VII act was to outlaw employment discrimination based on human race, color, sexual orientation, nationality, or religion. This act particularly aided female and minorities by challenging all those barriers that limited equal gender opportunities in organizations. Same legislation was adopted in United States as well. In 1967, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate enacted the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) law in 1967.
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In 1978, the upper age limit was moved to 70 years by subsequent amendments. Later on in 1986, the age limit was eliminated altogether. Considering the liberal ideology of time, Congress believed that eradicating age discrimination against middle aged employees would assist in functional economy by increasing the number of skilled labor and improving the efficiency of the work force. Thus, ADEA was designed to ameliorate the productivity of the workforce, and not to address the fundamental causes and materials based on