Legal and Legislative Issues in Protecting Older Adults in the Workplace: An International Perspective

Abstract

Anti-age discrimination legislative remedies passed in the United States at the federal level have offered limited protections for older workers. Much the same can be said for Canadian laws at the federal and provincial level. Even so, available remedies currently are being tested in courts at a greater rate in the United States. In recent years, there also has been a movement in the United States to pass state laws to prevent workplace bullying and abuse, resulting in a number of pending “healthy workplace” bills in almost all states. In Canada, while older workers’ precarious position is sometimes recognized, the need for additional protections in the workplace has received little legal attention to date. According to the International Labour Organisation, the European Union has passed more stringent anti-bullying workplace policies that, in combination with anti-age discrimination laws, may offer more protection to older workers than legislation passed in North America to date. This chapter describes current and pending legislation to protect older workers from discrimination and workplace abuse in North America and Europe. It places laws in the broader context of how anti-bullying and ageism in the workplace are defined, and the intersection of ageism with other types of discrimination, as well as older workers’ ability to make use of legal remedies. Until progress is made in these three areas, older workers’ situations will continue to be precarious.