For many seniors, golf and travel take a back seat to work. SeniorCare found that as of 2012 18.5% of those age 65 and older were still working or actively seeking employment (full- or part-time), compared with 12% of this age group in 1990. What’s more, last year one poll found that 82% of those 50 and older expect to be working during retirement years. These stats are a great boon to employers who can utilize this seasoned workforce (many large companies, such as Home Depot and Walmart, attend 50-plus job fairs), but there are also traps to be aware of.
The benefits to a company in employing seniors are numerous:
Skills and experience
- Skills and experience
- Work ethic and company loyalty
- Customer identification (customers seeing themselves through a company’s staff) and workers’ ability to better understand customer needs
- Ability to mentor younger workers
But there are downsides to an older workforce, depending on the positions they hold. These drawbacks obviously don’t apply to everyone in the age group, but they are things to consider when evaluating your particular situation:
- Higher compensation costs (paying for skills and experience)
- Keeping younger workers from opportunities or career advancement
- Less physical strength and dexterity
- Less willingness to learn or perform new tasks
ADEA
You cannot discriminate against older workers in terms of hiring, firing, job assignments, promotion, benefits, and so on. Such discrimination against workers 40 years and older is specifically barred by the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. The law applies to employers with 20 or more employees. (Ironically, the law allows employers to favor older workers based on age even when doing so adversely affects a younger worker who is 40 or older.) Many states have their own laws against age discrimination in the workplace and these may apply to employers with fewer than 20 employees. Find a link to your state’s law here.
Review your hiring and workplace practices to make sure you don’t violate the law.
ACA
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), those age 65 and older must treat Medicare Parts A and B as their primary coverage (seniors pay the Part B premium). However, under ACA, when an employer provides seniors with health insurance, the organization’s premiums reflect the cost of primary coverage. This is because of the “age band,” which pegs premiums to age (not health), premiums are highest for those age 65 and older, even though employer-sponsored coverage is secondary. This means employers providing health coverage pay more for older workers.
Conclusion
As someone in the senior workforce category with no plans of retiring, I see the benefit of having older workers on the payroll. Just make sure you do things right. Bring any concerns you may have to an employment law attorney before making any decisions regarding senior employees.
