Phased Retirement Programs: Exploring the Issues

Lorman Education Services

Learn practical and legal advice for implementing a phased retirement plan.

Phased retirement has become increasingly popular among two groups of employees: those who would like to begin easing away from work at a younger age, and those who need to continue working at older ages but require a less demanding schedule. An employer may see offering phased retirement as a way to retain valued talent. However, neither the employer nor the employee may recognize the practical disadvantages or the legal hazards of phased retirement. Without proper structuring, a phased retirement program can cause administrative issues and even legal liability on the part of the employer, unanticipated financial hardships for the employee undergoing phased retirement, and resentment on the part of other employees.

This topic helps employers identify the situations in which phased retirement may be beneficial, and to structure phased retirement arrangements in such a way as to avoid the practical and legal pitfalls. It also enables employers to provide guidance to employees considering phased retirement concerning the potential issues such a choice would entail for the employee. Familiarity with these issues can enable an employer to structure a phased retirement program in such a way to be beneficial to both the employer and the employee. Failure to consider them, by contrast, can cause an administrative and legal nightmare for the employer, without actually achieving any of the goals of either the employer or the employee.

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to recognize the extent to which phased retirement may foster or hinder the employer's objectives.
  
• You will be able to identify legal issues that may be created by phased retirement.
  
• You will be able to explain the effect on benefits of an employee's choice of phased retirement.
  
• You will be able to discuss ways in which a formal or informal phased retirement program can best meet the needs of both the employer and the employees.

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