Too penalized
It is however simple to answer your question: what keeps us from returning to the labor market are taxes. We are far too penalized financially to make it worth staying at work.
Pierre Durocher
well-being at work
To encourage employees to stay at work longer, they must have good working conditions, which does not necessarily mean better wages. The feeling of belonging to a team is very important. There is a certain thinking among both public and private corporate management that employees are an expense rather than an asset. Having experienced it, I think that makes the desire to leave stronger than the desire to stay. It may be time to think about “well-being” at work. It’s part of the happiness of being with a team every day and precisely of prolonging this happiness.
Nicole Godbout, Gatineau
The human resources veto
I believe that offering the possibility of working reduced weeks would interest many people nearing retirement. I had to issue an ultimatum to my boss: from April, either I work three days a week, or I don’t work anymore… Everyone in the company thinks it would be a good idea to offer this kind of schedules (including managers), but it gets stuck in human resources, where we are not ready to juggle these reduced schedules (adjustment of insurance, number of positions allowed by management, etc.).
Sylvain Ayotte
Fair part-time
Give a real right to part-time work at the end of the course. When I was an educational consultant, my collective agreement allowed me to request a reduction in my work week of up to 40% if I wanted to in my last five years. However, this could be done without the possibility of reducing my tasks. So I had the right to work fewer hours, but to continue doing the same work because they refused to hire staff to take over the hours left aside. I think part-time is an avenue, if it’s really offered honestly. Like many retired people, I do volunteer work. In the calculation that we make of wanting people to stay at work longer, we never evaluate all the work done voluntarily by a large number of retirees. Many community organizations would close their doors without the significant contribution of retirees.
Elaine Richer
The joy of working
We must increase not wages, but the happiness of working! Encourage, motivate, offer the possibility of flexible hours. Form work teams that know each other, create activities where people can exchange, discuss and understand each other better. Salary is important, but it is an element of comparison and not the only criterion to consider. When employees are happy, they don’t feel like looking elsewhere! Isn’t this what is practiced in the private sector for staff retention? Why not introduce this approach in the public sector?
Louise Roy
Tax relief
It would be appropriate to provide considerable tax relief for workers aged 65 and over. Most of them have contributed for 40 years and more to the common good, I believe that this deserves to be taken into consideration if we want to encourage them to stay at work.
Pierre Ouellette
incentives
To remain at work even at retirement age, employment income must be taxed at a maximum of 10%. That pension income is not reduced. That the expenses incurred by this work are deductible.
Michael Charlebois
Measures adapted to needs
When I retired in 2013 at age 54, I had a good salary, I worked four days a week with 30 days off per year. If at that time I had been offered telecommuting, I would probably have continued for a few more years. When I decided to retire, I had the means to maintain a standard of living that suited me. During the pandemic, I signed up for “I contribute”, thinking of volunteering. I found myself working in a vaccination center for $21 an hour and on my availability. I had nothing else to do during this time. Putting in place pecuniary measures is not a solution. Neither does the implementation of measures for the general public. The measures to be put in place must be more focused on the real needs of employees. Companies are in the best position to determine the effective measures to put in place to extend the careers of their employees.
Claude Rivard
A balance to be found
I’m on the verge of retirement and here’s what would keep her waiting. First, get a real financial incentive to stay at work. My tax bill would have to be reduced considerably and, to do this, the government should allow people to work at a tax rate halved from the age of 65. Thereafter, add another 25% reduction from the age of 70. Second, in an ideal world, employers would not be reluctant to grant telecommuting, the three or four day work week (reduction and not compression of the week). But for some, this concept imposes a human resource challenge that is too complicated to manage in terms of production schedules and employee supervision. Finally, and unless you have to, continuing to work must be balanced in terms of health, quality of life and stress at work. For me, these two ideas combined would be magical.
Yves Baril, Montreal