Terminated Employee Because Under 18

jscheidter

My Company has an unwritten policy that we do not hire anyone under the age of 18. An applicant who is 17 slipped through the application process and was hired. We now find out she is 17 and would like to terminate her. Are we exposed to any liability for her termination?

Don D

If she is NOT a member of a protected class, no. If she IS, you're OK if you can show that that is your company practice and policy, though unwritten, and that is your reason for the termination.

crawfod

How close is she to 18 and why do you want to terminate her? Apparently this young lady had the qualifications your company was looking for, you spent time and money recruiting, interviewing, and orienting her. I assume she is no longer in high school and therefore capable of meeting your work schedule. Do you only want to terminate her because she is not 18, but otherwise you would retain her?

Of course, if your company has repeatedly denied employment opportunities for those under 18, and this is well known, then keeping this one could certainly lead to you receiving lots of calls from irate applicants who will want to know, "why did you hire her and not me?"

Maybe you can figure another way to justify keeping her but also not setting any dangerous precedents.

System

In MA and maybe federal govmnt people under the age of 18 are not allowed to sell alcohol. We sell beer and wine and if a cashier is under 18 they have to step aside and have someone else ring for them. We have in the past termed someone for this reason without encountering any difficulties. We are more relaxed about it now though and do hire under 18. What are your state laws say about people under 18 working with equipment ar limited hours?

mwild31

For many reasons, hiring anyone under the age of 18 can bring about problems. I wondering why you would keep this information under wraps & not say something in the recruiting process? As Deez pointed out, when I was working HR in the customer service industry, we wouldn't hire anyone under a certain age (21 for us) to man the cash registers because we too sold alcohol. In my current position, we don't hire anyone under the age of 18 because of state child labor laws which would hurt us more than help us to comply & special licensing requirements.

marc

We also have the child labor laws, which I believe covers ages 14 to 16. These laws place limits on the number of hours they can work and the times they can work. I think it is mostly directed at not interfering with school.

Our state also has the same issues others have pointed out with respect to serving alcohol. We hire under 18 with the above limits on hours. Our insurance carrier does not allow under 18 to drive in connection with our business - so no running errands in their or anyone else's car.

If you have a valid business reason for your unwritten policy, I would stick with it, but this might be the opportunity to challenge the thinking that led to this policy.

mwild31

our state is 17...