Under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, what does the statute say about hiring an applicant who is age 40 or older?

Federal age discrimination and hiring: a statutory overview

**Review-only candidate.** This is general federal statutory information, not a conclusion about any person's hiring decision and not authorized for publication.

Question

Short answer

The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, often called the ADEA, says that an employer may not refuse to hire an individual because of that individual's age. Its protections are limited to people who are at least 40 years old, so age 60 is within that statutory age range. [1] [3]

That rule alone does not determine why a particular hiring decision was made. It also does not establish whether the entity involved is covered, whether a recruiter acted as an employer, agent, or employment agency, whether an exception applies, or what state or local law may apply.

What the federal statute covers

For the federal statute's private-employer definition, an employer is a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce with 20 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. The same definition separately includes certain state and local governmental entities and excludes the United States and corporations wholly owned by the United States. [2]

The statute has separate language for an employment agency. Whether a recruiter falls into any particular statutory category depends on facts not decided in this overview. [1] [2]

Section 623 also lists exceptions. The cited text says that an action otherwise prohibited may be lawful where age is a bona fide occupational qualification, meaning an age requirement reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the particular business, or where a distinction is based on reasonable factors other than age. This candidate does not decide whether either exception applies in any situation. [1]

Information that may matter in a review

Preserving the exact words used, job posting, written communications, date, and the organization involved can help keep the factual record accurate. Identifying where the job and hiring decision occurred is also important before checking current official federal, state, or local information.

A qualified reviewer would need the complete facts and the governing jurisdiction to assess whether a particular decision was because of age, whether the relevant entity or recruiter is covered, or whether an exception applies.

The cited Office of the Law Revision Counsel pages display United States Code text through Public Law 119-120, October 7, 2026. This review draft does not represent that the text was independently confirmed for the period from October 8 through the October 25, 2026 review date; that currentness question remains a material review hold before release.