Terminating Older Employees: The Cost Has Never Been Higher

By now we all know that for the most part there is no mandatory retirement age in Ontario. For a variety of reasons, including shortfalls in retirement savings or job satisfaction, many employees are working well past the traditional retirement age leading to increasing numbers of older employees. In recent years, Ontario courts have trended towards awarding older employees higher damage awards for wrongful dismissals. Courts have also held older employees to a lower standard in terms of the efforts required to mitigate wrongful dismissal damages by finding replacement employment. The result is that employers are faced with significantly increased risk of liability when terminating older employees.