Recently, we examined the wisdom and legality of mandating retirement for older workers. The gist of that analysis was “don’t do it” except in limited circumstances — and certainly don’t do it without talking to your legal counsel first, as such mandates directly implicate age discrimination liabilities under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and ancillary state and local civil rights laws.

But what about voluntary early retirement incentive programs (ERIPs)? Can an employer implement a voluntary incentive program to coax some of its more-senior employees into hanging up their hats? The answer is “yes,” but proceed cautiously.

Why Implement an ERIP?

Employers use ERIPs for a variety of reasons, including bottom-line cost cutting, encouraging healthy turnover, and minimizing entrenchment, to name a few. Whatever the basis of an employer's decision, it must consider certain basic business and legal principles before implementing an ERIP, such as:

• the employer’s ultimate staffing goal following the completion of the ERIP;

• the number and types of employees included in the ERIP;

• whether the ERIP will trigger certain obligations under federal or state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act laws based on the projected number of retiring employees;

• disclosure obligations and consideration and revocation periods required under the ADEA and the Older Worker Benefits Protection Act (OWBPA); and

• possible ERISA concerns.

The Equal Employment...

Read Full Story: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/considering-early-retirement-program-mak...