Enables public retirees to be rehired by the State or counties without suspension of their benefits.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature recognizes the changing demographics of the workforce; that in fact, the workforce is aging with an increasing number of state and county employees becoming eligible to retire with full retirement benefits. The legislature also recognizes that life spans have increased, not only because of advances in medicine and technology, but because people are choosing to live healthier lifestyles.

Ken Dychtwald, noted gerontologist, notes that older adults are blessed with longer, healthier lives, and are looking for a more fulfilling life (not the typical retirement) and wanting to stay longer or re-enter the workforce. Dychtwald offers that we are in an era where people will grow old slower, live longer, and may never retire, or may retire three or more times as they start new careers, go back to school, or even raise a second or third family.

Myths associated with older workers have been found to be just myths. Older workers do not get into more on-the-job accidents than other workers, they do not have higher rates of absenteeism, and their job performance does not decrease with age.

The legislature understands that with the low unemployment the State is now experiencing, state and county governments have more vacancies occurring with a dwindling number of qualified applicants. They, especially the State, have many jobs categorized as hard-to-fill, or as being in a labor-shortage category.

While retired state and county employees are now permitted to work for temporary periods of eighty-nine consecutive days or for less than twenty hours per week without jeopardizing their retirement benefits, there is no reason not to afford the state and county governments the ability to hire state and county government employees on a full-time basis, considering too that if they don't work for the government, they will instead, work for the private sector. This Act will allow state and county employers to recruit from the same group of qualified applicants as private employers and give the government employers equal footing with the private sector employer in hiring state and county retirees.

The legislature believes this Act will strike a balance between the state and county government's need to hire skilled and qualified employees and retired State and county government employees' desire to continue to work for the State or county government. This Act will allow retired state and county government employees to again work for the state or county governments without incurring any negative retirement consequences, such as the forfeiture of retirement benefits already earned and being collected by employees.

SECTION 2. Chapter 88, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§88-    Re-employment of state and county retirees. (a) Appointing authorities in the state and county government's executive branches may employ retired state and county government employees who are receiving retirement benefits under this chapter. New retirees, for civil service positions, shall be recruited and selected under normal civil service procedures. The director of human resources development, for employees hired by the State, or the respective chief human resource management executive for the county for employees hired by that county, shall certify the hiring of the retiree as having been done pursuant to civil service laws.

(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, retired state and county government employees who are hired by the State or any of the counties shall not earn retirement service credit, contribute to the retirement system, or gain additional retirement system benefits as a result of their subsequent employment with the State or a county and the employed-retiree shall continue to receive the employee's normal retirement benefits without penalty.

(c) This section shall not preclude a retiree from returning to work and relinquishing the employee's retirement benefits to earn new service credits and gain additional retirement benefits for a future retirement date as may be allowed by this chapter."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006.