Employers will no longer be able to set an age limit for workers they hire or keep now that Iloilo City has passed the ordinance on anti-age discrimination in job hiring.

The ordinance authored by Councilor David Jamora will prevent employers from hiring or dismissing workers and job applicants based on their age.

"Applicants should be judged not on their age, but on their capacity to perform the job they are applying for," he said.

The ordinance, which was passed at the City Council last week, covers public announcements on job hiring or posting of job-hiring advertisements and notice that requires age limit, use of age as criterion, whether written or orally expressed in the screening of applicants.

"Competence on the job is not synonymous to youthful age but by one's actual performance on the job," the councilor stated.

He, however stressed that employers still have the prerogative to hire employees but should be based on their capabilities and not on age.

Violators of the said ordinance shall face the following sanctions: warning for the first offense, P1,000 fine for the second offense, P3,000 fine for the third offense, and a fine of P5,000 or cancellation of business permits for the fourth offense.

Tasked to administer and enforce the said ordinance is the Public Employment Services Office (PESO).

Meanwhile, still pending at the committee level is the proposed Senate Bill 2652 or the "Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 2011."

The bill proposed by Senator Pia Cayetano seeks to prevent employers from hiring or dismissing workers and job applicants based on their age.

"It shall be unlawful for any employer to publish any notice of a job opening suggesting preferences, limitations, specifications, and discrimination based on age," the proposed ordinance said.

It also prohibits the discrimination of an individual in terms of compensation and other employment privileges on account of his or her age.*