Coverage thresholds decide whether a statute applies at all, and the number pairs here are the most-missed content in the People domain.
Employee-count thresholds
- Title VII, the ADA and GINA: 15 or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
- The ADEA: 20 or more employees.
So a private employer with 17 employees is covered by Title VII, the ADA and GINA, but not the ADEA. The ADEA threshold is 20, not the 15 Title VII uses, and this is the single most missed pairing in hiring law.
One exception to memorize: state and local governments are covered by the ADEA regardless of employee count. A city with 12 employees is covered. There is no public-sector exemption.
Who and what is protected
- ADEA: protects individuals at least 40 years of age, with no upper limit. The old 40-70 band was removed in 1986 and is a classic trap; there is no 65 cutoff. A 63-year-old applicant is protected.
- Title VII bases: race, color, national origin, religion, sex. That is all five. Age is the ADEA's, disability is the ADA's, genetic information is GINA's, and veteran status is none of these.
ADA undue hardship
The ADA defines undue hardship as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense considered in relation to factors such as the business' size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.
- There is no fixed numeric test such as a percentage of payroll.
- A supervisor's belief that a change will disrupt workflow is not the standard.
- "Requires changing an essential function" is a separate concept, not the definition of undue hardship.
Charge deadline
A charge must be filed with the EEOC within 180 calendar days of the discriminatory act. That extends to 300 days only where a state or local agency enforces a law prohibiting the same basis (state-only for the ADEA). The 300 days is the exception, not the default, and 90 days is a different clock entirely.