Enables public retirees to be rehired by the State or counties without suspension of their benefits. (SD2)

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.

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

Myths associated with older workers have been found to be just that--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. Many jobs are categorized as hard-to-fill or are classified 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 that, if they do not work for the government, they instead will 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 provide government employers equal footing with private sector employers in hiring state and county retirees.

The legislature believes this Act will strike a balance between the state and county governments' 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 may employ a retired state or county government employee who is receiving retirement benefits under this chapter in critical-to-fill or labor shortage positions. A retiree subject to this section shall be recruited and selected for civil service positions under normal civil service procedures. The director of human resources development, for employees hired by the state executive branch, the director of human resources of the judiciary, for employees hired by the judiciary, or the respective chief human resources management executive for the respective counties, for employees hired by a county, shall certify that the retiree was hired in accordance with applicable civil service laws. To qualify for full-time employment, the retiree shall be retired from a state or county government position for at least one calendar year prior to re-employment.

(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a retired state or county government employee who is hired by the state or county government under this section:

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

(d) For the purposes of this section:

"State or county governments" means the State or any of its branches, including the judiciary, or any of the respective counties.

"Retired state or county employee" means any former employee of the State or any of its branches, including the judiciary, or of a respective county, who is classified by the system as a retirant."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

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