Job Termination
Ontario scraps mandatory retirement at age 65Back to work, grannyGrace Watson will be celebrating her 72nd birthday today with a special gift from the Ontario government -- an end to mandatory retirement. MARYANNA LEWYCKYJ |
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 [ 2006-12-12 ] |
Grace Watson will be celebrating her 72nd birthday today with a special gift from the Ontario government -- an end to mandatory retirement.
When the Scarborough woman was forced to give up her job as a hospital switchboard operator in 1999 after turning 65, she filed an age discrimination complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
"I wasn't ready to retire," said Watson. "There was nothing wrong with my brain. Just because you turn that magic 65, you're not senile or stupid. I just didn't think it was fair."
Despite petitions by doctors at her hospital, her employer reluctantly pushed her out, even while acknowledging she was a valuable and well-liked employee.
Watson took her fight to Queen's Park and never wavered, even while battling lung cancer and facing bouts of chemotherapy.
"My husband says God don't want me and hell's afraid I'm going to take over," she said.
Watson's plight has helped pave the way for other people who want to work in their sunset years. But critics fear the repeal of mandatory retirement will lead to people literally working to death.
"Getting rid of mandatory retirement is the first step toward increasing the age before we access pensions," said Wayne Samuelson, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
He points out that Britain and the U.S. have already put in place rules to raise the normal retirement age to 67.
Samuelson believes governments should focus on improving pensions, not letting people work indefinitely.
"For the vast majority of people, the most important decision they make about when to retire is when they can financially afford it," said Samuelson. "That's what the debate should be about."
He also fears that older workers will be subject to relentless scrutiny and performance reviews in an effort to force them to leave.
"I think you're going to see employers making those decisions, certainly not workers," Samuelson said.
Bill Gleberzon, a spokesman for Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus, welcomes the new rules, although he sees some problems.
"The decision to retire should be based on ability, not on age," Gleberzon said.
He says loosening the rules will allow employers to tackle a shortage of skilled labour that will intensify in the next decade or so.
However, Gleberzon is disappointed that employers won't be required to extend medical benefits to employers older than 65.
"OHIP coverage is very basic," Gleberzon said. "There are still a lot of gaps in services and people will have to fend for themselves."
The membership of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business overwhelmingly support an end mandatory retirement. A poll conducted in March 2005 showed 68% of members wanted mandatory retirement scrapped while 22% of members opposed its elimination.
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