Senate bill seeks to purge age discrimination in employment

Employers will no longer be able to set an age limit for workers they hire or keep, if Senator Pia Cayetano's bill is passed into law. Senate Bill No. 2652 or the "Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 2011" seeks to prevent employers from hiring or dismissing workers and job applicants based on their age. Under the measure, it shall be unlawful for any employer to publish any notice of a job opening suggesting preferences, limitations, specifications, and discrimination based on age. It says that it shall likewise be illegal to reject any employment application because of the individual's age or even require the declaration of age or birth date during the application process. Aside from this, SB 2652 prohibits the discrimination of an individual in terms of compensation and other employment privileges on account of his or her age. Moreover, employers shall not be allowed to impose early retirement nor lay off employees because of old age. Violators of this measure shall be punished with a fine ranging from P50,000 to P500,000, or a jail sentence lasting from three months to two years, or both depending on the court. Earlier, flight attendants from the Flight Attendants and Stewards of the Philippines (FASAP) reportedly approached Cayetano about the Philippine Airline's (PAL) younger mandatory retirement age for women. The FASAP members said PAL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) requires female flight attendants recruited by PAL before 1996 to retire at 55 while their male counterparts at 60. On the other hand, PAL pilots, regardless of gender, are required to retire at 60 while managerial staff and other ground crew at 65. Article 3 of the Labor Code ensures equal work opportunities regardless of sex while article 135 declares it unlawful for any employer to discriminate against any woman employee with respect to terms and conditions of employment solely on account of her sex. - Kimberly Jane Tan/GMANews.TV