Change of the Mandatary Retirement Age Based on the Constitutional Equal Protection

Different standards for the elderly from the other ages are adopted for the termination of employment contract in Korean workplaces. Labor laws stipulate a mandatory retirement age to protect employees. However, many employees are laid off in spite of legal regulations. External factors should be considered for deciding the existence of age discrimination at work. Especially employees' recognition of age equality at workplaces and the people's general understanding of age discrimination should be reflected to execute anti-discrimination policy. This paper presents the people's intention to remain at work that is higher than the current mandatory retirement age, 60 based on a survey. According to the comparison between the American survey and the Korean one, workers' intention to work as long as possible looks universal. This paper suggests the result of the research should be adopted for the political and judicial decisions for labor based on the constitutional equal protection.