# Plain Language Summary: Older Workers' Bureau Act

This bill creates a new government office called the Older Workers' Bureau within the Department of Labor to focus specifically on helping people aged 55 and older find and keep jobs. Right now, there's no dedicated government agency looking out for the employment needs of older workers, even though they make up a growing share of the workforce. The bill recognizes that older workers face unique challenges—including age discrimination, difficulty finding work after job loss, lower wages, and concerns about retirement security—that deserve focused attention and resources.

The new bureau would be led by a director appointed by the President and would conduct research on issues affecting older workers, develop policies to help them, provide outreach and education, and manage grant programs. Specifically, the bureau would study things like age discrimination in hiring, whether older workers earn fair wages for their experience, access to job training and financial literacy programs, and how federal policies affect older workers' ability to retire securely. The bureau would also work with other government agencies like Social Security, Medicare, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to coordinate efforts across the government.

The bill also establishes two grant programs. One would fund research projects to identify barriers older workers face in finding and keeping jobs. The other would give grants to employers, nonprofits, labor organizations, and other institutions to run programs that combat age discrimination, improve workplace diversity, and provide training specifically for older workers—with priority given to areas that don't currently have such programs. The bill authorizes $10 million per year to fund these research and grant programs, and requires the bureau to be up and running within one year of the law passing.