Advantages of Hiring and Keeping Elderly Employees

Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), employers are prohibited from discriminating against applicants and employees who have reached at least 40-years-old. One of the primary reasons why it was enforced is to protect elderly individuals who may be unjustly treated due to their age.

Today, many employers use a person's age as a basis when assessing his skills and qualifications, as seen in the number of age discrimination charges that were filed by aggrieved applicants and employees. According to statistics, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received more than 24,000 complaints in the Fiscal Year of 2008 alone.


Many elderly employees are deprived of employment opportunities because of the belief that old people no longer have the ability to work. What employers need to realize is that a person's age has no negative effect on his working skills. In fact, his age may enable him to become an asset to the company due to the skills that he has honed during his younger years.

Here are three advantages of hiring and keeping elderly employees:

They are more experienced compared to younger employees. Because elderly employees have been working for a long time, they have already developed a method which helps them do their job effectively. In addition, they also know how to deal with different problems that they may encounter in the workplace, considering that they have been performing the same job duties for many years.

They will likely be loyal to the company- Many senior employees are looking for job stability, unlike younger ones who have a tendency to transfer from one company to another in order to gain more experience.

They can help you have successful business operations- Elderly employees can help their employer come up with a strategy which will enable the company win over its rivals using the skills that they have honed during their working years.

However, although you are encouraged to hire and retain elderly employees, you should remember that not all of them are capable of complying with company policies or fulfilling their job duties.

If an elderly employee can no longer meet your expectations, you may have no choice but to terminate him for the sake of the company's business operations.

Remember, you need to be careful when dealing with him because you might be accused of age discrimination or wrongful termination if he believes that you have violated his rights under ADEA. If this situation happens, you can prove your innocence with the help of a San Diego employment lawyer.

Jester used to be a campus journalist in a University and holds a degree in AB Mass Communication. He jumped-start his profession in web content writing and has written somekeyword articles to date.