How Can We Legally Determine an Employee's Age Without Official Documents?

Friends,

Can you kindly enlighten us as to the legally appropriate method of ascertaining the actual (biological) age of an employee when he is not able to produce or not in possession of any approved document/credential in support of his date of birth? In the opinion of the Management, he would have surely crossed the age of retirement, but he is claiming that he has some more years of service. He also refuses to produce any proof in support of his claim.

In the absence of any documents, write a letter to the Dean of the Government Hospital and request them to constitute a board. The board will assess the age and provide a certificate. This certificate is a valid document.

If the employee refuses to share any document to show his age, the HR must use the documents it has. There will be some documents available in personal files, such as what was submitted to PF, joining records, etc. Then, once you issue his retirement letter, he has to prove that he has not reached the retirement age.

Employee's Date of Birth Proof and Benefits

I think he is hiding his date of birth proof. For availing benefits like insurance policies, PF, bank account opening, etc., anyone has to submit ID/DOB proof. How come the same is missing from his end? There is a loophole; HR at the time of documentation must have collected something.

So according to this employee, he does not have or wish to submit PAN/Aadhaar/DL/Voter's ID since he claims not to have DOB proof, which is not possible. This is the only way to confirm his actual age.

Thanks and Regards,

Akash Sharma

You can always ascertain their age from an Aadhaar card. If a person doesn't know their exact date of birth, it is usually mentioned as 01/01/XXXX, where XXXX represents the year of birth.

Proof of Age Verification

As regards proof of age, first see what the rules say. If the model Standing Orders are applicable to you, please check the position; otherwise, refer to the company rules regarding proof of age. Since the employee is nearing retirement age, there should have been some disclosure made during their long service tenure. Look for such details in documents like the PF loan form, ESI card, etc.

If no such document exists, the employee may be asked to provide supporting documents for their age or be directed to appear before a medical board. The medical board can only provide an opinion on the age range, such as 60-62 or 55-58, and not the exact age or date of birth. Based on this opinion, consider the minimum likely age and issue an order stating the established age with the employee's acknowledgment.

Challenges in Verifying Employee Date of Birth

How come the employee does not have a single document of his date of birth these days? The Aadhaar Card is accepted as POI/POA/DOB. An affidavit is another option. Using due diligence as a legal method is time-consuming and does not guarantee a correct figure.

As far as the PF office is concerned, if one is not nearing superannuation, DOB correction should not be problematic. A joint declaration from the employee and employer will help. One should adopt a generous approach when retirement benefit schemes are concerned.

Regards,
Puran Dangwal