As a business owner, you may study many demographic factors about your employees. Do you ever think about what will happen to your older employees if they choose not to retire and want to continue to work for whatever reason? Do you see this as an advantage or disadvantage?
What are the statictics?
- By the year 2020, one out of every four workers will be over age 55
- Nearly 3 in 4 Baby Boomers will continue to work beyond age 65
- Every day, 8000 Baby Boomers turn age 65
- 79% of Americans ages 50+ indicate that they will work full or part time until retirement
Why is this happening now in our society?
- People are living longer due to medical science and good nutrition
- Many are raising their grandchildren and caring for their own parents and need the money
- Baby Boomers have done a very poor job of saving for retirement and need to put it off till later
What are the challenges you, the business owner, could face with older employees remaining as your employees? Will this impact your worker's compensation premiums? These are questions to ask now to be prepared to handle your older workers if they delay their retirement.
Here are some things to think about:
- Growth of employees with pre-existing medical conditions due to aging; diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, hypertension, decrease in eyesight, movement ability slows, dexterity is weakened, etc.,
- Older workers are more likely to use litigation to resolve workers compensation claims, adding potential cost and complexity to their claims.
- According to NIOSH, the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health, roadway crashes are the leading cause of work-related deaths for older workers in the United States.
The types of injuries that appear most commonly in workers over age 55 are shoulder, back, and knee claims. Cumulative injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and epicondylitis are more frequent as well. These types of claims most often require surgery and recovery time for a 59 year old worker will be quite different versus a 29 year old worker.
Employers across America voiced concerns about the potential adverse impacts on worker's compensation costs due to older workers postponing retirement. In response, the National Council of Compensation Insurance, known as NCCI, conducted a study on older workers and found that older workers have less of a negative impact on loss costs than originally thought. NCCI published that “all groups of workers ages 35-64 appear to have similar costs per worker”.
However, there is another question that cannot be ignored: “Is the injury my employee sustained related to their age or the job that they do for my company?”
Remember that in Wisconsin, when you hire an employee, you take them “as is” when you hire them. If they do have pre-existing medical conditions that your employment will aggravate, accelerate, or precipitate, you are responsible for that medical treatment and lost wages until they reach their pre-injury status.
Recognize and plan for risk factors early. Talk to your insurance agent about these issues and get your insurance carrier's Loss Prevention and Claim staff involved as soon as possible. This is their area of expertise. At Hausmann-Johnson Insurance we have our own Loss Prevention and Claims staff to assist you on this timely issue. Please call us at 257-3795 and we would be very happy to assist you in preparing for your aging workforce.
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