Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 161 - Civil Rights Commission › Chapter 8 - Discrimination in Employment › Rule 161-8.15 - Age Discrimination in Employment

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1) Any person who has reached 18 years of
			 age may not be excluded from an employment right because of an arbitrary age
			 limitation and shall be an aggrieved party for the purposes of Iowa Code
			 section
			 216.15,
			 regardless of whether the person is excluded by reason of excessive age or
			 insufficient age, and shall possess all the rights and remedies for
			 discrimination provided in section
			 216.15.
(2) No employer, employment agency, or labor
			 organization shall set an arbitrary age limitation in relation to employment or
			 membership except as otherwise provided by commission rules or by the Iowa
			 Code.
(3) Help wanted notices. No
			 newspaper or other publication published within the state of Iowa shall accept,
			 publish, print or otherwise cause to be advertised any notice of an employment
			 opportunity from an employer, employment agency, or labor organization
			 containing any indication of a preference, limitation, or specification based
			 upon age, except as provided in commission rules, unless the newspaper or
			 publication has first obtained from the employer, employment agency, or labor
			 organization an affidavit indicating that the age requirement for an applicant
			 is a bona fide occupational qualification.
(4) Help wanted notices of advertisements
			 shall not contain terms and phrases such as "young," "boy," "girl," "college
			 student," "recent college graduate," "retired person," or others of a similar
			 nature unless there is a bona fide occupational requirement for the
			 position.
(5) Job applications for
			 and other preemployment inquiries. An employer, employment agency or labor
			 organization may make preemployment inquiry regarding the age of an applicant,
			 provided that the inquiry is made in good faith for a nondiscriminatory
			 purpose. Any preemployment inquiry in connection with prospective employment
			 which expresses directly or indirectly any limitation, specification, or
			 discrimination as to age shall be unlawful unless based upon a bona fide
			 occupational qualification. The burden shall be on the employer, employment
			 agency or labor organization to demonstrate that the direct or indirect
			 preemployment inquiry is based upon a bona fide occupational
			 qualification.
(6) Nothing in the
			 above shall be construed to prohibit any inquiry as to whether an applicant is
			 over 18 years of age.
(7) Nothing
			 in the above shall be construed to prohibit postemployment inquiries as to age
			 where the inquiries serve legitimate record-keeping purposes.
(8) Bona fide occupational qualifications.
a. An employer, employment agency, or labor
			 organization may take any action otherwise prohibited under commission rules
			 where age is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the
			 normal operation of the particular business.
b. The concept of the bona fide occupational
			 qualification is narrow in scope and will not be applied to include the mere
			 preference or convenience of the employer
c. Age requirements set by federal or state
			 statute or regulatory agency shall be considered to be bona fide occupational
			 qualifications where requirements are necessarily related to the work which the
			 employee must perform.
d. A bona
			 fide occupational qualification will also be recognized where there exist
			 special, individual occupational circumstances such as where actors are
			 required for characterizations of individuals of a specified age, or where
			 persons are used to advertise or promote the sale of products designed for, and
			 directed to, certain age groups.