Early Retirement Incentive Program 3.0

1.0 Purpose

This policy establishes guidelines for the Early Retirement Incentive Program regarding application and payment to those applying to retire as of June 30, 2017. Additionally, this policy shall act to terminate and sunset the Early Retirement Incentive Program.

2.0 Revision History

3.0 Persons Affected

3.1 Administrative and classified staff employees who have a 12-month letter of appointment, who are regularly scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week, and who are eligible for and participate in the mandatory retirement match program.

3.2 Administrative and classified staff employees who have at minimum a 9, 10, or 11-month letter of appointment, who are regularly scheduled to work 40 hours per week, and who are eligible for and participate in the mandatory retirement match program.

3.3 Faculty employees who teach a full faculty load and who are eligible for and participate in the mandatory retirement match program.

4.0 Policy

The policy of Casper College is to ensure the following.

4.1 The college may offer an early retirement incentive program.

4.2 The college may revise or suspend the early retirement incentive program at any time.

4.3 The Board of Trustees uses seniority as the determining criteria when ranking applications.

4.4 The college may not rehire employees who participate in the early retirement incentive program into a position that is eligible for the mandatory retirement match program.

5.0 Definitions

5.1 Full-time. These are 12-month positions that are regularly scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week, 9, 10, or 11-month positions that are regularly scheduled to work 40 hours per week, or faculty positions contracted to teach a full load.

5.2 Seniority. This employment ranking is based on years of consecutive employment at the college. Employees with a greater number of years of consecutive employment have greater seniority.

5.3 Break in Employment. This is a period when an employee separates employment that is not covered by one of the college’s leave policies. Board of Trustee approved leaves and sabbaticals are not breaks in employment. Summer semester is not a break in employment for full-time faculty employees or full-time employees regularly scheduled to work 9, 10, or 11 months annually.

5.4 Years of Employment. This is the total number of years an employee is employed at the college in a full-time position. Years employed must be consecutive (without any breaks in employment); otherwise, the calculation starts over.

        Total number of months employed in a full-time position
    –_Breaks in employment_________________________
        Months employed in a full-time position
    ÷ 12________________________________________
        Years of Employment

5.5 Voluntary Early Retirement Request Form. Employees use this form to request participation in the early retirement incentive program. Employees submit the Voluntary Early Retirement Request form no later than November 1, 2016. Employees qualifying in accordance with the provisions hereof to apply for early retirement during its last year of existence, will submit their form by no later than November 1, 2016 to retire as of June 30, 2017.

5.6 Early Retirement Release Form. Employees who have applied for the early retirement incentive program use this form to verify that they have voluntarily applied for the program and are aware of review and revocation deadlines.

5.7 Early Retirement Eligibility. Persons affected who meet the age requirement by January 15, 2017 and who, at the time of retirement, are employed in a full-time position for the minimum number of years without a break in employment, are eligible to participate in the program. The Human Resources Department may request presidential approval to adjust the criteria when an employee experiences a FMLA qualifying medical event a year or less prior to the employee’s retirement date.

Employees receiving long-term disability or unemployment compensation or who have received notification of involuntary termination or nonrenewal of their contract or letter of appointment are not eligible to participate in the program.

5.7.1 Criteria 1

5.7.1.1 55 to 65 years old as of January 15, 2017

5.7.1.2 At the time of retirement, employed in a full-time position for a minimum of 15 years without a break in service

5.7.2 Criteria 2

5.7.2.1 54 years old or younger as of January 15, 2017

5.7.2.2 The employee’s age plus years of employment equals 75

5.7.2.3 At the time of retirement, employed in a full-time position for a minimum of 15 years without a break in service

5.8 Base Compensation. This is the amount or rate of compensation for a specific position or activity. It does not include overload, summer school, or overtime or any other extra compensation.

5.9 Early Retirement Incentive Payment. The method to calculate incentive amounts varies depending on when an eligible employee applies for the program. Payments are disbursed once a year for five years.

5.9.1 Employees Who Apply in 2016.

The college will use the following formula to determine the maximum amount an employee who applies in 2016 will be eligible to receive as an early retirement incentive, upon his/her retirement as of June 30, 2017.

            Years employed
        + (66 – the employee’s age on January 15) x 5________________
            Employment and age
        + 100_________________________________________________
            Employment and age percentage, not to exceed 75%
        x  Base compensation for the last fiscal year employed__________
            Early retirement incentive
        ÷ 5 annual payments_____________________________________
            Annual payment

6.0 Responsibilities

6.1 The director of human resources is responsible for maintaining compliance with this policy, for overseeing the process, and for determining eligibility.

6.2 The vice president of administrative services is responsible for calculating the early retirement incentive payment.

7.0 Procedures

7.1    The employee completes and submits the Voluntary Early Retirement Request form to the Human Resources Department by November 1, 2016, anticipating his/her retirement as of June 30, 2017.

7.2    The vice president of administrative services calculates the early retirement incentive payment amount.

7.3    The employee signs and dates the Voluntary Early Retirement Request form.

7.4    The Human Resources Department provides the employee with an Early Retirement Release form.

7.5    The employee signs, dates, and submits the Early Retirement Release form to the Human Resources Department within 21 calendar days from the signature date on the Voluntary Early Retirement Request form. Failure to sign and submit this form by the deadline voids the request and the employee may not submit another request until the following year. Employees have 7 calendar days from the signature date on the Early Retirement Release form to revoke their application. Revocations must be in writing.

Applications received prior to any policy change are null and void. Employees desiring to make application for early retirement under this policy must reapply on or before November 1, 2016. In the event that an employee has made application under the prior policy, and chooses not to reapply under this policy, the employee will continue as an employee of the college without interruption.

7.6    The president and the vice president of administrative services sign the Voluntary Early Retirement Request form.

7.7    No later than the December 2016 board meeting, the president will provide the Board of Trustees with a list of eligible applicants, the seniority of each applicant, and the fiscal impact of the proposed retirements. The Board of Trustees will rank applicants based on seniority, giving preference to applicants with greater seniority.

7.8    The Board of Trustees will vote on the applications no later than January 31, 2017. Employees whose applications are not approved may retain their current position, or they may retire without participating in the program.

7.9    Employees select the last payroll date in either July or January as the date to receive their early retirement incentive payment. Employees may not change their payment selection date.

7.10    Approved employees will retire as of June 30, 2017.

7.11    The Human Resources Department pays early retirement incentive payment to the retiree on the retiree’s selection date. If the retiree dies before all payments are made, the obligation ends and no further payments will be made.

7.12    The Early Retirement Incentive Program shall sunset and will no longer be offered to employees of Casper College after June 30, 2017.