Developments in phased retirement

This chapter explores why employers might permit phased retirement only after employees officially retire. This issue is addressed based on interviews with close to 1,000 establishments regarding their phased retirement policies. Employers were asked whether they would permit an older worker to reduce hours, and, if so, whether they favoured reduction in hours before or after official retirement. Results show that many employers do not indicate a strong preference; rather, they seem open to informally arranged reductions in hours, both before and after official retirement. Statistical methods were used to analyze what types of employers might permit hour reductions to occur before and/or after official retirement. The findings suggest that the preference for retire/rehire is at the individual rather than the establishment level, often due to pension and other benefit plan inducements. Government policy could enhance work/retirement flexibility by clarifying the meaning of what constitutes retirement under tax and labour law.