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OTHER PROGRAMS

UC Davis already offers these two programs:

UC employees near the end of their careers could gradually transition into retirement through a proposed program that offers a cash incentive.

Under the Phased Retirement Program, staff members who are 55 or older could reduce their work hours by at least 10 percent a year for up to three years before retiring. Employees would receive a lump sum payment upon retirement equal to half the amount that they would have otherwise earned.

Click to find links to a pair of PDFs: the draft proposal and an FAQ.

Employees are invited to comment on the proposal. UC Davis Human Resources is accepting comments through Friday, Sept. 23, via e-mail to Terri De La Mora, tadelamora@ucdavis.edu.

The Phased Retirement Program would give employees an alternative to retiring immediately, while giving the university another way to manage costs.

Departments would see an additional benefit in being able to plan for upcoming retirements — giving the departments the time they need to assess personnel and recruitment needs, and to facilitate the transfer of future retirees' knowledge and expertise to other employees.

“This is a great tool for employees who want to start taking steps toward retirement,” said Dwaine B. Duckett, vice president of Human Resources for the UC system. “They would still be able to actively contribute to the university as they gradually transition. And it will allow the university time to evaluate its needs and keep operations running smoothly.”

Under the proposal, staff members who have at least five years of service credit and work at least 60 percent time would be eligible. They could enroll for as few as 120 days or up to three years.

Participants would be required to reduce their appointment by at least 10 percent, plus at least an additional 10 percent annually, if they enroll for multiple years. Employees would be required to retire upon finishing the program, and would then receive their incentive payment.

Here is an example involving a full-time employee earning $50,000 a year, and who reduced his or her work by 10 percent for one year: The employee's salary would drop to $45,000, and the one-time incentive payment upon retirement would be $2,500, or half the amount that he or she would have otherwise earned.

Each successive year of participation would require an additional reduction in time, of at least 10 percent.

Assuming a 10 percent reduction in time for three successive years, the employee would have given up $15,000 in pay — thus qualifying for a $7,500 incentive payment upon retirement.

If an employee enrolled in the program and later changed his or her mind about retiring, the employee would forfeit the cash incentive.

Departments would decide whether to offer the Phased Retirement Program, based on departmental business needs. Faculty and members of the senior management group would not be eligible. The program would be subject to collective bargaining for represented staff.

Some employee benefits, such as vacation accrual, would not be affected by signing up for phased retirement. Also, each participant would keep his or her health and welfare benefits, ao long as the employee worked at least 17.5 hours a week.

However, participating employees would receive less service credit in the UC Retirement Plan, meaning that their retirement income could be reduced.

Katherine Tam, a communications coordinator in Internal Communications at the UC Office of the President, contributed to this report.