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Employers
Find Many Older Workers Get Better with Age
By Linda Lewis,
Sun-Sentinel
March 24, 2003
When Leolla
Williams came back to work for Baptist Hospital as training coordinator
for environmental services, she was 67 years old. Today, at age 71, she's
still going strong.
"I helped washed the first baby when the hospital first opened 43
years ago," said Williams, who retired from the Kendall hospital in
1995, but got bored at home and returned to work in 1998. "When I
came back, I told the girls here I can work a ring around them."
Some seniors keep working because their self-identity is wrapped up in
their job. Others re-enter the job market because of financial need, as
they find a sinking economy, low interest rates and shrinking stock
portfolios have left them without the income they expected, or they take
jobs to afford health insurance payments.
Just as working makes sense for these seniors, hiring them makes sense for
employers. Contrary to some negative stereotypes, many employers discover
that older workers are good, reliable and loyal employees with decades of
solid experience in their favor.
And the labor pool is growing: According to the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 13 percent of American workers today are over 55, and that
figure will increase to 20 percent by 2015 as more seniors stay on the job
longer or return to work after retirement.
In the lead
Baptist Hospital is part of Baptist Health South Florida, a nonprofit
health care organization that won top billing in the AARP list of the 15
best places for workers over 50. AARP bases the awards on such factors as
corporate culture, continued opportunities for advancement, compensation,
and benefits such as health insurance and retirement.
Baptist Health, the largest nonprofit health care organization in South
Florida, won particular honors for offering flextime, job sharing to allow
smaller workloads, telecommuting, and compressed work schedules of longer
workdays but shorter work weeks. Twenty-two percent of Baptist's employees
and 35 percent of its managers and executives are over 50.
"We have the ability to shift schedules to fit people's needs,"
said Paul Gustafson, corporate vice president at Baptist. "We don't
want to lose valued employees, so we do whatever we can to make it easier
for them to keep working or return to work as they get older. We find that
people often want to `test' retirement and work two or three days."
In addition to flexible work schedules, Baptist offers specific programs
that benefit older employees:
Bridgement of services program.
Within five years of retirement, employees can come back to work and get
credit for service before they left, returning with their former benefits,
at their old seniority level.
Retirement benefits begin at 55 with 10 years service. Also, the company's
contributions to retirement plans are above industry averages, and there
are group health plans for retirees. Workers who are 59Ѕ can reduce
their working hours and start to tap their retirement plan for money.
Rewarding older workers for putting their experience to work.
For example, the company pays bonuses to longtime nurses who coach and
mentor less-experienced colleagues.
Time off bank.
Employees needing emergency time off can use a paid bank of leave time
donated by co-workers. In addition, they can accumulate time off and save
up to 1,000 hours. At retirement, they will be paid for that time at the
highest rate of pay.
Meals-to-go program.
Senior employees who don't want to cook can order meals they can take home
from food service.
Wealth of experience
While Baptist Hospital has enormous resources, size is not a factor in
establishing a senior-friendly culture.
At Transworld Business Brokers in Fort Lauderdale, where 14 of the
company's 30 agents are over 50, CEO Andy Cagnetta thinks selling
businesses is a great employment opportunity for seniors.
"Our agents are independent contractors who can make their own hours,
and while the work is intellectually stimulating, it's not demanding
physically," he explained. "People can be as flexible as they
wish with hours, scheduling appointments with buyers and sellers as they
choose."
Cagnetta thinks that business owners his company advises feel more
comfortable dealing with older, experienced individuals who may have owned
businesses before or worked for Fortune 500 companies. "Also, seniors
provide a wealth of experience that makes them more business-savvy,"
he said.
Another advantage, he says, is that "older employees are willing to
pass their experience on to me, and that's what makes the company what it
is today."
At Schaaf Guard Services in Lantana, about one-third of the security
guards are over 50, and owner Troy Schaaf reports that many clients
actually request older individuals.
"Older workers want to use skills they have developed over their
lifetime, such as good judgment and people skills, and, in the security
field, they have the opportunity to do so," Schaaf said. "Based
on their life experience, seniors have the good sense to notice when
things don't seem right and make educated decisions as to the best way to
handle a situation."
About 10 percent of the guards he hires work with condominiums where the
residents are older and appreciate having someone their own age to deal
with. In addition, seniors work at residential security gatehouses,
commercial traffic control, and escorting funerals.
Also, he said, older workers are "generally are less likely to call
in sick, or request extra time off."
Gisela DeArmas-Ramirez, president and owner of a Miami franchise of Home
Instead Senior Care, finds seniors to be excellent caregivers. Of her 30
employees -- who provide the elderly with companionship, meal preparation,
medication reminders, transportation, errands, shopping, and light
housekeeping, enabling them to remain in their homes -- about one-third
are over 55.
"Not only can older employees relate well to our clients and what
they are going through, but they tend to be patient, tolerant and
understanding," she said. "In addition, they offer a range of
personal experience and a work ethic that is hard to find anymore."
DeArmas-Ramirez makes it easy for seniors by allowing them to choose the
area and hours they wish to work, and to pick their assignments. "We
give them the option to take an assignment or pass on it without
consequences if they feel it's not the right fit."
Making adjustments
While hiring older workers can be a plus, there are challenges.
Sometimes seniors suffer physical problems such as failing health, vision,
hearing, strength, or they lose the ability to walk or lift heavy objects.
"Employers must be aware that some older people have chronic diseases
which may impair their ability to work full time, or they may require
special equipment such as magnifying devices or need to work while
remaining seated," said Amy Pienta, assistant professor at the
Institute on Aging at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Productivity is a concern. But there are ways to solve the problem of lost
speed or skills in a given area, said Gustafson of Baptist Health.
"Rather than lose them, we look for other jobs they can do. For
example, nurses in their 50s may not want to lift patients, but they may
do quality assurance instead."
While some jobs may be better suited for seniors than others, every
employer must take care not to discriminate against any individual based
on age and to consistently hire the best candidate for the job.
"I put older prospective employees through the same rigorous
interview process as anyone else," said Betty Jones, president of Two
Wheels, a Riviera Beach company that provides transportation to the
disabled and disadvantaged. Jones, who is 57 herself, personally screens
and hires all employees to determine if they have what it takes to do the
job, without regard to age.
"If older people have a good record, health and want to work, they
feel better if they are working," said Williams. "If they are
able to work and can do the job, hire them."
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