Retirees on county’s radar
Ector County Human Resources Director
The Commissioners' Court approved shifting eligibility qualifications at the end of 2018 for health and dental benefits under the
The revision stated that in addition to meeting the
The change went into effect this year and employees have until
There are about 225 county employees with eight years of service with the county and about 113 people with 12 years of service as of
The county budgeted for about 670 positions this year, but many roles were left vacant.
"We may see in December of 2020 a number of people retiring," Patton said. "We'd be looking to fill more vacancies, but theoretically we would be hiring people probably at a lower step than those who are retiring, so salary-wise there could be a savings on that end."
Patton said the positions that could open up before the grandfather clause deadline will not be the same jobs the county is currently struggling to fill.
"I think where so many of our vacancies are now, like in the jailer positions, is not necessarily where our older employees who are eligible and who have the extensive years of service for their age are," Patton said. "Those (retirees) might be more like department heads or key staff members that have been around longer or promoted up more so than the vacancies we're facing right now."
"Most of those were people that have been here long term," Duesler said.
He said county departments are affected due to the loss of knowledge that often occurs when veteran employees retire.
"You don't just replace someone who has been here 30 years by bumping somebody else up," he said. "They take a lot of knowledge with them when they go and hopefully they pass some of it on too."
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