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The Wisconsin Fair Employment Act prohibits employers, employment agencies, labor unions, licensing agencies, and other persons from discriminating against employees, job applicants, or licensing applicants because of their membership in specific protected categories, including age 40 and older.
The statute of limitations for filing a complaint is 300 days from the date the action was taken or the individual was made aware the action was taken.
State law protects older workers from discrimination in discharge, job assignments, leave or benefits, licensing, retirement benefits, hiring, pay, promotion, training, and other employment actions.
The law also prohibits an employer from retaliating against applicants or employees who assert their rights under the law. Employers are also responsible for ensuring that older workers are not harassed on the job because of their age. Unlawful harassment may include persistent remarks about a person's age or other behavior, which interferes with a person work performance or otherwise creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
No. The law does not protect persons under 40 years of age. Though perhaps unfair to younger workers, an employer can legally give a hiring "preference" to older workers. State law also contains the following other exceptions, which permit an employer to consider age in its decisions:
Hazardous employment:
An employer may "exercise an age distinction" (for example, it may set a maximum age of 60) if the job involves physical danger or is hazardous, such as law enforcement or firefighting.
Future advancement to a higher level job:
An employer may hire a younger person if the knowledge and experience to be gained in the job is required for future advancement to a managerial or executive position.
School bus drivers:
Under another state law related to licensing school bus drivers, [section 343.12(2), Wisconsin Statutes], a person must be between 18 and 70 years of age to meet licensing standards of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Insurance purposes:
An employer may provide varying insurance coverage based on age.
Retirement plans:
An employer may implement the provisions of a bonafide retirement plan so long as it is not a ploy for age discrimination. However, a plan may not mandate involuntary retirement because of age.
Wisconsin law prohibits advertisements, employment application forms or other materials which imply or express a limitation based on a person's age. Therefore, ads calling for "young or recent college graduates" or "youth-oriented" may be considered unlawful. Application inquiries regarding a person's age are also prohibited, except where the inquiry is to determine if a person is "old enough" for a specific job.
It is unlawful to deny employees promotions or training opportunities because of their age. For example, it is unfair to deny such opportunities on the assumption that older workers "lack potential" or that training should be earmarked for younger workers who "will be with us longer".
State and federal laws do not prohibit involuntary layoffs or reductions-in-force affecting older workers. However, employers may not target older workers when deciding who to let go, nor may older employees be transferred to units where they are more likely to be affected by lay-off. Further, lay-off cannot be based upon a person's eligibility for pension benefits.
Incentives for early retirement might be welcomed by some employees and viewed by others as a message they are no longer wanted. An early retirement offer is generally lawful if it is based on business necessity. However forced early retirement based on a person's age is unlawful.
An employee is usually asked to sign a release as part of a termination or acceptance of an early retirement offer. The federal Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (part of the ADEA) sets standards which must be met before such a release is considered valid. An individual's signing of a waiver agreement must be done in a "knowing and voluntary" manner, and meet seven essential requirements.
It must:
State law standards are similar.
Obviously there can be many reasons for poor performance and age may or may not be a factor. But regardless of age, an employer can expect all workers to perform in a satisfactory manner. An employer is not required to accommodate a person solely because of his or her age.
If poor performance relates to a disability, an employer may be required to make a reasonable accommodation so that essential job functions can be performed. An accommodation might involve job restructuring, transfer or other strategies, which permit an employee to perform essential job functions.
An employer's use of the term "overqualified" may be a sign of age discrimination. It is unlawful for an employer to not hire an experienced older person based merely on the assumption that an older worker might become bored or dissatisfied and leave the job.
State and federal law protects most workers age 40 and older from workplace discrimination. Wisconsin's Fair Employment Law applies to virtually all private and public employers, regardless of the number of employee's.
Federal age protections are contained in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, known as the ADEA. The ADEA applies only to employers with 20 or more workers.
As with other protected classes such as race, national origin, sex and disability, Wisconsin's legislature declared that discrimination against qualified older workers unfairly denies their right to gainful employment.
While state law promotes employment of older persons based on their ability rather than their age, employers may terminate a worker, irrespective of age, if he or she is physically or otherwise unable to perform essential job duties. However, an employer may be required to make a reasonable accommodation for a worker who is unable to perform essential job functions because of a disability.
Persons who believe they have been discriminated against because of their age may file a complaint with the Equal Rights Division within 300 days of the discriminatory action. The Division investigates complaints, helps the parties with settlement and, if necessary, orders relief if discrimination is found after a formal hearing.
The employee or applicant has the burden of proving discrimination by showing:
If these factors are met, the employer then has an opportunity to explain that the action was not based on age. Following this explanation, a complainant has an opportunity to show that the explanation is a "pretext" or cover-up for discrimination. The key question is whether age was a determining factor in the action taken.
A number of important resources are available to assist employers and older workers. A few key agency resources are:
DWD Contact Information
201 E. Washington Ave
P.O. Box 7946
Madison, WI 53707
(608) 266-3131
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