Purpose
Promote the employment of older adults who do not receive a pension, supporting the autonomy and economic self-sufficiency of the elderly, thus guaranteeing the active, satisfactory, and healthy aging of the Colombian population.
Deduction in determining the income tax for hiring older adults
Contributing employers who are obliged to file an income tax and complementary statement, who hire people who are not beneficiaries of the old-age, family or survivor's pension and who have met the age requirement of the pension legally established, are entitled to deduct from the income tax 120% of the value of the wages and fringe benefits paid to these people during the taxable years in which the employee remains hired by the contributing employer, provided they correspond to at least 2.5% of the workforce for employers with less than 100 employees.
The 2.5% hiring requirement will be increased by 0.5% for every 100 additional employees, without exceeding 5% of the workforce.
To be entitled to this deduction, the employer must hire the older adult for at least 1 year and after the issuance of this Law.
In the event of termination with just cause, this term can be completed with the work time of another older adult, who enters to fill the vacancy.
In case of resignation of the employee due to a breach of the employer, the employer will lose the tax benefits obtained by that employee once the breach is established by judicial decision.
Tiebreaker criteria
In public hiring processes, in the event there is a tie in the score of two or more bidders, the one that demonstrates the hiring of the highest percentage of older people who are not beneficiaries of the old-age, family or survival pension and who have fulfilled the age requirement of pension established by Law, will be preferred.
For these purposes, only the relationship of those older adults subject to this Law who have been hired for a period equal to or greater than one year will be considered.
In the case of companies who have been established for a period less than one year, those employees who have been hired since the beginning of the company will be considered.
If the public contract has been obtained due to this form of tiebreaker, the employer must maintain the same percentage of older adults working within the company during the term of the contract. Otherwise, it will not be able to use this benefit in any other contract that it enters with the Government within the 5 years following the termination of the contract.
For this purpose, the individual, the legal representative of the company or the tax auditor, as appropriate, will certify, under oath, the total number of workers hired to the company or its members who comply with these requirements at the closing date of the selection process.
Regulation and verification
The national government, in consultation with the National Council for the Elderly, shall regulate this law within a period of 6 months, counted as from July 27, 2020, at least in the following aspects:
- Strategies for the promotion of employment of elderly people who are not beneficiaries of the old-age, family, or survivors' pension and who have met the age requirement of pension established by Law in the public sector.
- Types of activities and work that can be assigned to older employee who are covered by this law.
- Special rights and obligations of employing companies applying this Law.
- Procedure for verifying compliance with the requirements by employing companies.
Companies will be in charge of certifying before the Ministry of Work the fulfillment of the requirements to be entitled to receive the benefits established in this Law.
Friendly stamp "Senior Adult"
The friendly stamp "Senior Adult" is created, which will identify companies that incorporate into their workforce older people who are not beneficiaries of the old-age, family, or survival pension and who have met the age requirement of pension established by the Law, in accordance with the roles established by the Ministry of Work.
The Ministry of Work and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism shall regulate within the 6 months following the issuance of this Law, the "Senior Adult" stamp.
The friendly stamp will be valid for 1 year and may be renewed at the request of the legal representative of the corresponding company, after complying with the established requirements.
Protection in case of administrative restructuring or definitive provision of positions
People who:
- are close to comply with the requirements to obtain an old-age pension (require 3 years or less of service)
- are part of the workforce of public entities on provisional or temporary appointment
- derived from administrative restructuring processes or definitive provision of public positions through merit-based competition, should be separated from their positions
will be subject to special protection by the Government and thus, must be relocated until they acquire the minimum requirements for obtaining the pension benefits. This provision must be regulated within the following 6 months.
The benefits of deduction from the income tax and the others established in this Law or in current legal regulations for the promotion of the hiring of older adults, will be extended to industrial and commercial companies of the State and to those of mixed-economy.
The Special Administrative Unit of the Public Employment Service will create in its official information channels an exclusive section for the publication of job offers that are aimed at older people who are not beneficiaries of the old-age, family, or survival pension and who have fulfilled the age requirement of pension established by Law.