Stop discriminating against seniors

It’s hard to imagine that any employer would be allowed to deny or cut off a worker’s benefits based on the colour of their skin, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

Still, under both Ontario’s Human Rights Code and Employment Standards Act employers have been allowed to cut workers off health, dental and life insurance benefits simply because they turned 65.

If that sounds discriminatory and unjust, it’s because it is.

Finally, the province’s Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that the practice is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It sends “a message that older workers are essentially of lesser worth and value than their younger co-workers,” tribunal vice-chair Yola Grant wrote in her decision.

It’s a wonder that employers have been allowed to do this for so long. When Ontario passed a law back in 2006 ending an employer’s right to terminate workers when they turned 65, it should have also amended the Human Rights Code and Employment Standards Act to prevent companies from cutting off benefits for senior employees.

Instead, it allowed the situation to drag on for a dozen years.

That was both unfair and bad for the economy as a whole. As the population ages, it makes no sense to discourage older workers from continuing in their jobs.

Three things must happen to fix this problem.

The new provincial government should bring Ontario’s legislation into line with the tribunal’s ruling, as the Ontario Human Rights Commission is urging.

Employers should not wait for that to happen. Instead, in the spirit of inclusion and fairness they should immediately abide by the ruling.

Finally, the employer that lost the case – the Grand Erie District School Board – should not appeal the decision. Nor should the new Ontario government.

That would just put off the inevitable. Cutting off a person’s benefits and insurance simply because they turn 65 – when they are doing exactly the same job they were the day before their birthday – is discriminatory. It’s a practice that should be ended as quickly as possible.