Florida Age Discrimination Lawyers For Employers

If you own a business in Florida, you have to be aware of various hiring pitfalls as well as different kinds of problems that can occur within your staff related to the age of employees on your teams. Age discrimination is a serious issue in the state of Florida, and employers need to be careful that they are never discriminating against staff based on their age.

If you run a business in Florida, you know that the hiring process can be complex and that you must use care when selecting and offering jobs to potential new team members. Working with a skilled legal team can help you to ensure that all of your hiring practices are legal and fair as defined by the state of Florida.

Florida age discrimination lawyers for employers at The Lopez Law Group can help you create hiring processes that will never cause issues with age discrimination.

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Table of Contents

• What Do Employers in Florida Need to Know About Age Discrimination?
• What is the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act?
• Which Kinds of Practices Are Not Legal When Hiring, Firing or Promoting?
• Working With a Skilled Legal Team Matters

What Do Employers in Florida Need to Know About Age Discrimination?

Sean Lopez, Florida Age Discrimination Attorney

The definition of age discrimination in the state of Florida is important for business owners to know. When you are aware of how the law defines this possible hiring pitfall, you can avoid it when you are selecting new hires for your company.

In Florida, age discrimination occurs when a person’s age becomes a factor in their ability to obtain a job, a promotion, or benefits. Age also cannot be a factor in termination discussions. Choosing to evaluate an employee or hire an employee based on their age is not allowed by law in the state of Florida.

While age discrimination can affect workers of any age, it most commonly affects those between 45 and 75. Florida businesses must guard against age bias in all employment decisions to ensure legal compliance.

What is the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act?

ADEA protects employees who are over 40 years old. This is the federal law that states that ageism in the workplace is not allowed. Under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment law, employees are protected if they are working for an employer with at least 20 employees. 

The Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 (Sections 760.01–760.11 and 509.092 of the Florida Statutes) takes the national law a step further and states that employers with at least 15 employees must protect their staff’s employment rights from age-related discrimination, wrongful termination, and layoffs.

Whether you have one or one hundred employees, you should never use age as a reason to hire, fire, or promote any of your staff. These practices are unfair and problematic, and they can lead an employee to file an age discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and other legal actions against you.

Even if you have only two employees, you should not expose your business to legal action due to age-related workplace discrimination.

The Florida age discrimination statute (F.S. § 112.044) is part of a larger set of laws that outline fair hiring practices for all protected groups. These laws also define which considerations cannot play a role in hiring and firing in Florida.

You can easily access the language of these federal and state laws online, but sometimes it can be hard to tell if your HR department is conforming to these standards correctly. Involving a legal team in your hiring and firing processes can ensure your business does not take illegal actions against current and former staff.

Race, color, orientation, sex, diversity, and national origin are also protected classes under Florida law. Most business owners are more aware of these factors than of other considerations they cannot use to decide who to hire, promote, or let go.

Florida employers may not know that employment law includes age as a protected class. These misconceptions can lead to the HR team at your business taking illegal actions.

Which Kinds of Practices Are Not Legal When Hiring, Firing or Promoting?

When you are looking to hire someone, you do need to ask them some personal questions about their goals or their preferred working arrangements, but you cannot cross some lines. You will need to be cautious about these common age-related hiring questions and work practices:

Biased Statements

You cannot refer to someone you are interviewing or considering for a promotion as an “old man,” “baby,” or “senior citizen.” You also cannot ask anyone if they think they are too young or too old to accept the potential job offer they will receive.

Some companies stumble when considering staff for promotion, wanting not to promote an imminent retiree. These considerations cannot play a role in these determinations, and if they did, the worker could sue the company.

Different Treatment

Ageism can involve treating specific age groups differently. Treating the young people or the older people in your workplace differently from one another can also be considered ageist, biased treatment.

If no one in a specific age group is ever given a promotion or is ever allowed to take on certain tasks or get certain jobs, this can indicate that age-related bias factored into these choices. The employee’s skill must form the foundation for all hiring, promotion, and wage-related determinations. Age cannot play a role in these choices.

Harassment

While not common, some older or younger employees will experience workplace harassment by management or HR staff. An employer may want the employee to leave the company without firing them or may hold a personal grudge.

Employees who are subjected to these practices may take legal action against an employer for these actions.

Age-Related Determinations for Layoffs

Layoffs that disproportionately affect older employees can create the appearance of age discrimination. While economic factors can justify layoffs, employers must avoid using age as a motivating factor. Laying off older, higher-paid workers to retain younger, lower-paid employees can look like age discrimination.

You cannot discriminate when your business requires layoffs any more than you can discriminate when you hire new staff. Layoffs are always difficult to undertake, but you must avoid discrimination-based determinations when you take these actions.

Make sure that your business does not violate your employees’ rights. A skilled legal team will identify potential trouble areas in your business practice before it is too late.

If an employee sues you for age-related discrimination, the team at Lopez Law Group can help to support your side of the story and secure a favorable outcome for everyone involved.

Representing businesses accused of age-related discrimination requires skill and experience. The team at Lopez Law Group has years of experience supporting businesses accused of age-related discrimination and helping them win their cases.

No matter if you need support to create better hiring and HR processes or if you need legal representation after an age discrimination suit has been brought against you, we can help!

Working With a Skilled Legal Team Matters

When you own a Florida business, many business-related concerns might require the support of an experienced and proven employment law firm. With the team at Lopez Law Group, you have access to dedicated, thorough, and experienced legal guidance from Florida employment lawyers who can help you with all of your business needs.

Age-related discrimination is a serious issue in Florida, and the employment lawyers at Lopez Law Group can help you to avoid age discrimination cases against your business.

If a current or former worker does accuse your business of unlawful age discrimination, our experienced employment law attorneys can represent you, explain your best legal options, and walk you through the legal process.

You can also contact us if you are dealing with other serious legal matters.  Call Lopez Law Group at (727) 933-0015 today for a consultation to discuss your needs. You can also use our online contact form. We have years of experience in providing legal guidance and support to businesses in Florida, and we are eager to get started working on your case.

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