| In sponsoring
the workgroup, the Department of Civil Service and Governor's Office
of Employee Relations in no way indicate endorsement of the perspectives,
opinions, and recommendations presented in this report. |
Contents
Purpose
Statement
Methodology and Preliminary Findings
Agency Practices on Hiring Retirees
Challenges
Areas to Explore
Appendix A - Definitions
Appendix B - Bibliography
Appendix C - SUNY Procedures for Reemployment
of Retired Public Employees
Appendix D - Work Group Members
Purpose
Statement
In the years to come, the
population of New York will change dramatically; population trends suggest
that by 2015, one in five New Yorkers will be 60 or older. Similarly,
the number of immigrants will continue to grow. Each will be customers
or clients of one or more State government agencies and will have special
needs for information and services.
The same predictors of population
change tell us that employers will be challenged to provide the services
these customers require; customer needs will strain a limited labor
pool. Not surprisingly, the characteristics of the population-at-large
are shared by the State government work force: many state employees
are retirement eligible, will be retiring, and are not likely to be
replaced at an equal pace. Finding qualified candidates may be difficult
in a wide range of occupations since the number of available workers
is declining.
As such, it is important
for State government to consider alternative recruitment mechanisms,
including the use of State employees who have retired. The Retiree Resource
Work Group was convened to:
- Learn how State employee
retirees are now being utilized by agencies and share what we learned;
- Understand agencies' views
of the future need for this alternative labor pool;
- Understand the barriers
as well as the inducements to hiring retirees; and,
- Suggest means to overcome
those barriers.
In the context of this report,
"retiree" is defined as a former employee who is now receiving
benefits under any program administered by the New York State Employees'
Retirement System. As such, this includes, but is not limited to, employees
of State agencies, SUNY, CUNY, local governments, and school districts.
A glossary of terms can be found in Appendix A. The definitions include:
Retiree, Section 211; Section 212; The Two Year Bar; The Lifetime Bar;
and Social Security Employment.
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