Older worker needs to retire

I have a 67 year old male employee who has been working for us in a manual labor position for 7 years now. He is a good guy but is physically just worn out. He really needs to retire because he just cannot physically do his job any longer. He doesn't have any disability that I'm aware of, just what happens to us as we age, some take it worse than others. Offering him a part-time position is not an option because we really don’t have any operations that warrant that and he does not possess any skills for an office job (which we have no openings for anyway). I’m not looking to do anything illegal or violate any of his legal rights but what I am looking for is: (a) people’s experiences or advice in dealing with older workers who physically cannot do their jobs anymore (b) creative ways to help him on the way out without breaking the bank (c) any other thoughts or suggestions that you may have. His main concerns are health insurance and “I just don’t know what I’m going to do with myself, I gotta be doing something” and my main concern is worrying about shortening his life span. All input is welcome and appreciated.

Comments

  • 9 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • OKB,

    This is something we struggle with on almost a daily basis. Twelve percent of our workforce is over 65. On the advice of our attorney, we look at each case individually. With the employee, we look at the job description first to determine the essential job duties. Then we determine if there is any accommodation we can make that will allow the individual to continue to perform his job duties.

    Next, without the employee, we determine if these accommodations are reasonable. If the accommodations are not reasonable, we then determine if there are any other positions available for which the employee is qualified. If so, we offer the employee that position. If not, we tterminate on the basis that the employee was not able to perform the essential duties of the job.

    We have yet to terminate so I don't know how well this procedure will stand up if challenged, but we have had employees who upon completing the process have chosen to retire. Of course, we document all of the steps along the way.

    I wish you luck.
  • I have dealt with this type of situation. Unfortunately, we have to deal with it as a performance issue. Either the employee is performing satisfactorily or not. If not, we address the performance. I think you need to adhere to whatever your policy/practice is regarding performance issues and discipline.

    I would be somewhat concerned about entering into a conversation regarding reasonable accommodation unless there is some evidence of a disability. Arguably, by having the conversation, you are perceiving the employee to have a disability. That would invoke ADA even if the employee is not disabled.
  • I think the employee' s age is irrelevant -- it comes down to whether the person is able to do the job. Which, as other posters have mentioned, is about performance. I wouldn't make this an age issue, but a performance issue.

    Good luck!

    Cheryl
  • I agree with Cheryl. Just take the "age" thing out of it entirely and base it purely on performance. Aging, in itself, is not a disability.
  • Granted, the termination for legal reasons must be based on performance, but age can play a positive factor in this situation. If ,as you say, the 65 year old employee's main concern is health insurance, you can help him/her enroll in Medicare Part B & a supplement. I recently worked with one of our elderly (71 year old) employees that seemed to fit OK's employee's description ( physically unable to continue doing his job safely & not educated enough to perform an office/admin job).

    It took some time getting through the government beauracracy, but was also an educational experience for me. I'll now be able to help other employees in similar situations. Bottom line: his Part B cost $96.40/month (which comes directly out of his Social Sec check) and his supplement cost $109.20. He was fully insured for ~$200/month. I helped him set up an annuity from his 401k, which along with his social security check made his life relatively comfortable. If he needs a little extra cash, he can go to the WalMart down the street from his home and be a greeter.

    This was well worth my time, as both the employee & the company benefitted from his being able to retire.

    For more info go to: CMS Announces Medicare Premiums, Deductibles for 2008 on the [url]www.cms.gov[/url] website.
  • We have situations like this often. Many of our employees are 65 and older and have re-entered the workforce with us after retirement. My question as I read your post is who initiated the dialog about your worker's physical limitations. I think that steps you take may depend on those circumstances.

    In essense, you should steer clear of 'age' related discussion as much as possible. If the worker has mentioned that he no longer can perform the duties of his job, or if you or a supervisor have documentation to reflect that parts of his job that were getting are no longer getting done, focus on the fact that the work is not getting done first and the reason for the lapse in performance second. If the worker suggests he needs to leave, accept his offer. If your company is suggesting that he needs to leave, ensure that you have nothing else for him to do. If you base the decision on a medical reason, it is reasonable to obtain a medical statement ensuring fitness for duty. If you get the stmt, follow through in a way that is reasonable (i.e., change in job duties if essential duties can be preserved, transfer to another job that has duties the worker is capable of performing). Simply changing the position from FT to PT doesn't necessarily change the duties and may be an unreasonable solution. In the end, you may find that the worker must leave. I would also guard against making any provision for insurance unless you have done so before for other workers. It's a dangerous precedent if you also try to solve his insurance issue for him. Instead, direct him to sources and encourage him to solve it for himself. Maybe he would qualify for Medicaid, Medicare, or he might certainly have Cobra available if he has insurance now.

    best wishes
  • We have at least 4 older retiree age workers that we have allowed to do part time. We let them continue working in the same departments, using their knowledge and experience. Although those positions were not normally part time, we allowed it, to keep the good worker in place. To help off set the part time hours, we also hired part time students to fill the gaps.

    All 4 positions are also a manual type job. But by cutting them down to part time, it allows them to be able to "keep up" physically.

    We have found that by being a little more flexible, we have gained the rewards of having a reliable experienced staff.

    Good Luck!
  • Thank you all for your input! That's exactly what I was looking for.
  • We had this very same issue last year. For several years, we had "carried" an older office worker by letting her stay and basically do nothing or do things that could easily have been done by others. She was an asset to the company as she brought a lot of good will and people really liked her. However, she had MS and kept falling and we were concerned about that, plus we just didn't have a job anymore. So, we decided to cut the cord because, while she occasionally talked of retiring, she never really did anything about it. So, we eliminated her position. We gave her a severance package in which we continued to pay our share of health, dental, vision and life insurances (not the disability - you don't want claims while someone is on severance). Because of her tenure, she got 22 weeks of severance - I'm sure your employee wouldn't get that amount but even a month is helpful. She was then able to apply for unemployment after that because she lost her job - your employee might be able to do the same. He can also apply for a supplemental plan. We also told her that we wanted to give her a "retirement" party - this would allow her to leave with dignity and, unless she wanted to tell people she was laid off, no one would know but think she finally decided to retire. Finally, when I talked with her about the position elimination, I knew that she would be concerned about how to spend her time. I also knew that she lived across the street from her church. So, I was prepared when she said "I don't know what I'm going to do with all that time on my hands" - I just said that there are a lot of volunteer opportunities out there where people need someone to help out a few hours here and there. And then I said that she was in a prime position because of her church being so close and I was sure there was something they could use her help with - stuffing envelopes, etc. That really brightened her up and she actually was very excited.

    We had the party and have invited her back to other events as well. It worked out well for her and us.
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