Retiree Restrictions:
Retirees are defined as “former staff members who are re-employed who are age 55 or older who are in receipt of pension benefits”. Pension benefits can refer to both full pension and early retirement benefits. Reemployment of retirees is subject to certain conditions that must be observed:
- Retirees, except for language service staff, in receipt of pension benefits are subject to an earnings threshold of USD $22,000 per calendar year and cannot have a cumulative period of service in excess of six months per calendar year.
- The earnings threshold for retired language service staff cannot be more than the equivalent of 125 days of monetary compensation, per calendar year. Additionally, they may not be re-employed for more than 125 days per calendar year.
- Former staff who are re-employed after they have started claiming a pension benefit may not be re-employed at a level higher than that at which they separated from the Organization.
- Retirees will be ineligible for re-employment for a period of three months following separation and cannot be reappointed on a fixed-term contract.
If someone separates from the Organization even after the age of 55, but at the time of reappointment they are not in receipt of pension benefit, they are not retirees and they can be hired as any other external applicant on a fixed-term or temporary appointment as long as they are not over the mandatory retirement age. Provided they meet the requirements, they could be reappointed at a higher level and grade than that at the time of separation.
However, once the former Staff Member separates and starts claiming a pension benefit, they are to be treated as retirees and the above conditions will apply. It is therefore very important to always check with a former Staff Member over the age of 55 to determine if they are claiming pension, as the answer to the question will determine if they are retirees or not and whether the above conditions apply.
Umoja has specific PAs for both separation and reappointment of retirees. The separation PAs for retirees
- assign the status of “retiree” in the system (instead of withdrawn)
- allow for the application of ASHI and
- trigger the interface with Pension.
This is true for separations due either as a result of reaching mandatory age of retirement, or as a result of resignation to claim the early retirement benefit of the Pension Fund.
Having the status of “retiree” is a prerequisite for processing the Reappointment of Retiree PA. So not only does the HR Partner need to check a reappointed Staff Member who is over the age of 55 whether they are in receipt of pension benefit, but before processing the Reappointment of Retiree PA, the HR Partner must also ensure that the correct separation PA was executed, and the “retiree” status is correctly reflected in the system for those who are retirees.
While the Retirement PAs (as a result of reaching mandatory retirement age or a resignation in order to claim early retirement) assign the status of “retiree”, we may have cases of former staff who are in receipt of pension at the time of reemployment but do not have a status of retiree in Umoja. This might be the case if at the time of their separation they were not eligible or did not intend to claim pension. For instance, a Staff Member whose appointment expired at age 45 would have a separation as a result of expiration of appointment and the status in Umoja would be withdrawn. If they come back for reemployment at age 56 and at that time they are claiming early retirement pension benefits, they are retirees and would be subject to the conditions of reemployment of retirees. In such cases, the correct PA is a reemployment of retiree, but we first need to change their status from withdrawn to “retiree”. If you come across such situations, please contact your help desk.
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