# ADEA — US federal employment law thresholds by employee count

For ADEA, full name is Age Discrimination in Employment Act; employee threshold is 20; requirement is you cannot discriminate against (or harass) employees or applicants age 40 or older simply due to their age; counting note is part-time and temporary employees are included in the head-count calculation, verified against its source on 2026-08-04.

- **Law:** ADEA
- **Full name:** Age Discrimination in Employment Act
- **Employee threshold:** 20
- **Requirement:** you cannot discriminate against (or harass) employees or applicants age 40 or older simply due to their age
- **Counting note:** part-time and temporary employees are included in the head-count calculation

## What the source says

> Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) Per the <https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/age.cfm> Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), you cannot discriminate against (or harass) employees or applicants age 40 or older simply due to their age.

## Source

- https://stratus.hr/resources/federal-law-breakdown-how-many-employees

Last verified: 2026-08-04. Review by: 2027-08-04.
Part of [US federal employment law thresholds by employee count](https://referencesource.org/regulatory-threshold-triggers/).