Older employees aged 45 – 80
Guy Hunter’s employment law practice places special emphasis on the rights of older employees and seeking compensation for them.
If you are between 45 and 80 years of age and have recently lost your job or are seeking to modify your work relationship with your employer, contact Guy Hunter at 416-856-4179 or 416-901-4179 for a free half-hour consultation to see if he can assist you to get reinstated or increased compensation.
It is well-established at law that older employees are entitled to more notice, or more months of pay, on termination, than younger employees. The theory behind this is likely that it is harder for older employees to find re-employment.
It is often the case that older employees also are longer service employees as they may have been working for the same employer for a long time. That fact also entitles these older employees to more reasonable notice.
Fairly recent changes to the Ontario Human Rights Code have eliminated the mandatory retirement provisions as discriminatory on the basis of age, for most employees. (There are exceptions). As such, seniors are now entitled to employment and to continued employment, whereas they may have previously been forced to retire at 65 or earlier.
Guy Hunter has, for example:
- obtained significant compensation for a 65-year-old chef who was provided a very poor package when a hotel chain changed owners and this gentleman was not offered continued employment;
- obtained about 18 months pay for an assistant to an architect, when the architectural firm she had long worked for closed down due to the architect’s retiring;
- raised age discrimination as an issue entitling an employee in her 40s to more compensation on dismissal, as she was let go in a corporate work environment where a manager had written an email professing he would try to “find some young bodies” for the department.
Older employees are more likely to have health problems. As is explained above, if an employee is willing to raise disability and medical issues, then the employer has a duty to accommodate those problems up to the extent of “undue hardship.”
One option may be to negotiate reduced work hours or modified work duties.
It is not uncommon that older employees are better paid than younger employees as they have experienced a series of wage increases throughout their tenure. It is not uncommon that employers want to get rid of older employees so they can replace them with younger employees who may learn more quickly, be more technologically savvy and/or be willing to work for less money.
While employers are entitled to dismiss employees because they are not satisfied with their performance, those employees are entitled to pay in lieu of notice, or reasonable notice.
If, however, there is evidence that the reason for the dismissal was wholly or partially due to the employee’s advanced age or a health condition, that reason for the termination is prohibited under the Ontario Human Rights Code and could be reversed by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. If it can be shown that the real reason for dismissing the worker was to find a younger employee, the employer risks having to reinstate the employee, which otherwise would not be an option open to a non-unionized employee.
When every attempt is made to provide helpful information in this website, you may not rely on the information above as legal advice.