Employees size up early retirement program

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

Cheryl Daggett, senior benefits specialist in Human Resources, explains the details of the state early retirement incentive program during a Jan. 9 information session in Thompson Hall. About 700 people attended the four sessions held last week. (Stan Sherer photo)

nterest in the state's early retirement incentive program is so strong that Human Resources staff are having a "very, very difficult time meeting demand" for individual counseling sessions, according to Personnel administrator Jim Coopee.

     "We've got five people working full-time doing retirement counseling," said Coopee.

     Senior benefits specialist Cheryl Daggett is leading the effort to provide face-to-face briefings for employees who are interested in the plan, which was signed into law last month. Daggett said the counseling sessions are booked through Feb. 1 and that she and her colleagues have added slots on two Saturdays and the Martin Luther King holiday to accommodate the surging demand.

     Along with Daggett, Kelly Dickinson and Fran Phelps, two retired Human Resources staffers, Jack Walsh and Rita Montague, are conducting the 75-minute counseling sessions, explaining benefits projections and helping employees complete the necessary paperwork to apply for the incentives by the Feb. 15 deadline. About 25 sessions are held daily, said Daggett.

     Last week, a series of four general information sessions about the program attracted about 700 people, said Daggett, who noted that some of those in attendance were spouses of employees or faculty and staff who just wanted to know more about the plan. How many campus employees will actually file for early retirement is still up in the air, she said.

     Under the plan, employees who are at least 55 with 10 years of creditable service or any age with at least 20 years of creditable service can apply for early retirement and receive an incentive of five years added to their age, years of service or a combination of the two.

     The 6,700 slots in the program will be awarded according to years of service. Employees of the University and state and community colleges must retire by June 15, while workers from other state agencies must leave service by March 15.

     According to Coopee, employees who sign up for the program can opt out by notifying the State Board of Retirement before the effective date of their retirement.

     The legislation limits the incentives to state-funded employees, but Acting Gov. Jane Swift has filed a bill to extend the program to trust-funded staff, a step blocked earlier in the House of Representatives. No hearing has been scheduled on the bill by the Joint Committee on Public Service.

     How much the program will save the campus is unclear, especially since the measure limits the University to spending only 20 percent of the annualized savings from the plan during this fiscal year and FY2004 to refill vacated positions.