Time to Keep Working — Tip of the Week

It used to be that when employees reached a certain age — somewhere between 60 and 65 ordinarily — they would start thinking, “It’s time to retire.” Although many of those employees would still like to say that, they’re saying instead, “It’s time to keep working.”

One reason employers still aren’t hiring is that their older employees are unable or afraid to retire. That’s not to say they weren’t planning to retire. They were. But that’s when it looked like they had enough money in their 401(k) plans to let them retire with a nice cushion. That was before the recession cut 401(k) plans in half or worse.

This week’s tip: use care and get legal advice when you’re thinking of terminating — or retiring – older employees, particularly employees who’ve been with you for a number of years. In light of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent lawsuit against AT&T, even when employees are retiring in accordance with an early retirement program, you may not be out of the woods.

A lot of people are out of work. Getting them back to work is a key to economic recovery. In an effort to stimulate the economy by forcing out older employees so unemployed workers can get jobs, the only thing you’ll be doing is shooting yourself in the foot.