Employment Law SOS: managing workers over the old retirement age
1 min read
One of our workers in the warehouse loading area is 65 but doesn't want to retire. However, he's noticeably slower than his colleagues – can we move him to an alternative role?
There is no reason why you cannot treat this worker as you would treat any employee who is not performing properly. You will need to meet with him to find out just why his performance has slowed down as there may be a specific reason for this, for example if he has an illness that is affecting his mobility such as arthritis.
It is also important to ensure the safety of this worker and his fellow colleagues – if his slowness is posing a risk, you will need to discuss this with him at the meeting and, depending on what he says, possibly look at additional training or discuss alternative job roles that are safer for him to perform.
If there is no reason for his slowness and he is capable of speeding up but is just being lazy, then you would need to point this out and possibly issue him with an informal verbal reprimand telling him that if he did not improve, you would consider taking disciplinary action.
Ultimately, you will need to be able to justify your actions and demonstrate that you are not singling him out for less favourable treatment because of his age.
You will need to show that you would treat any under-performing employee, regardless of age, in the same way.
