Discrimination Based on Age

This question pertains to the law in California.

Last week our company announced that employees with 20+ years of service would lose 2 weeks of paid vacation, employees with 15 - 20 years of service would lose 1 week of paid vacation, and employees with less than 15 years of service would not be impacted. Is this age discrimination since the majority of employees were older than 40?

The decision to cut back here is not predicated on age, but the economy.

Of course, with more years service, the employee will be at a so called protected age.

Thanks for such a quick response! So, it is not discriminatory?

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Quoting dldmcd

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Thanks for such a quick response! So, it is not discriminatory?

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I would say NO.

The only sequence/pattern I can see of possible discrimination is if any employee, say over 15 years, received, as an example, 4 weeks vacation.

This could put a person, if they started at 18, at only 33.

Say there were many employees in this category, but only the over 40 class was cut, then some questions may arise.

Thanks! If you don't mind, I have one other question.

Our company has been having a couple of layoffs and it is quite apparent the people being targeted are employees that are 40 - 54 years of age, with many years with the company. They are certainly higher paid than the younger employees and also have retirement plans that the younger workers do not have. Is this discriminatory?

It depends on the reason they are being targeted. If they are selected for layoff because of their age, that is illegal discrimination. If they are being selected because they are the highest paid, that is not.

Agree, it may seem unfair if they are selected for layoff due to being the highest paid, but not illegal. (It would be illegal to select them for layoff due to their age being 40 & older.)

I just want to make sure that I'm understanding. What is happening is that the vacation accrual rate is decreasing based on years of service going forward, is that correct? You aren't losing vacation that you have already accrued, right?

It is not illegal discrimination to change the vacation entitlements based on years of service.

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Quoting PattyPA

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What is happening is that the vacation accrual rate is decreasing based on years of service going forward, is that correct? You aren't losing vacation that you have already accrued, right?

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Good questions, Patty.

Those of us with 20+ years lost two weeks of vacation. Those with 10 - 19 years lost one week. Those with less than 10 years lost nothing.