Compliance November 17, 2006

Judge Reinstates Job for Woman Refusing Sunday Hours

November 17, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A Missouri woman who was fired from a public library for refusing to work on Sundays was reinstated to the staff assistant position she had held for 12 years.
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A federal jury ruled in the woman’s favor in May, finding the library had discriminated against her on the basis of religion, the Associated Press reports. She was awarded $53,712 in lost wages, and last month a judge ordered that she be reinstated to her staff assistant job.

After the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) determined Connie Rehm had a legitimate claim, the library attempted financial settlement, but Rehm refused because she wanted her job back. Rehm called the library position a “gift from God” because it allowed her to serve her community, the AP said.

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The Rolling Hills Consolidated Library fired Rehm in 2003 when it adopted Sunday hours and she refused to work on that day.

“What price is my religious freedom? What is it worth?” Rehm said, according to the AP.   “It’s not a matter of displaying the Ten Commandments. It’s being able to live the Ten Commandments, and that’s what my employer was asking me not to do.”

Benefits November 16, 2006

Support for Family Members Alters Retirement Plans

November 16, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A survey conducted for Putnam Investments found 15 million workers age 45 or over are providing financial support for an aging parent or adult child, and that is altering their retirement plans.
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According to a press release on the survey, about 6.2 million of the approximately 29.3 million working adults age 45 or older that have at least one living parent provide financial support to their parents. About one-quarter of this group said their efforts to provide parental support will likely postpone their own retirement or reduce their savings. Forty-four percent said they expect to work in retirement as a result.

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Additionally, approximately 23.5 million working adults age 45 or older have at least one child age 25 or older, and almost half (45%) said they provide financial support for grown children. About one in four (20%) said their grown children live with them and 4% said they write a rent check for grown children, the release said.

Of those providing support for grown children, 43% said they expect it will force them back to work after retirement; 38% said they expect to save less; and 29% anticipate delaying retirement. Seventy percent of respondents providing support for adult children said they did not consider that in their financial planning.

Still, despite the negative effect to their retirement plans, 57% of those supporting parents said they are “very pleased” to do so, as did 38% of those supporting their grown children. However, respondents who support parents said lessons learned include that they should have saved money specifically for parental support, used a professional adviser to help plan for retirement, and bought long-term care insurance for their parents.

“The We Generation: When Retirement and Family Needs Collide” study was conducted online by Brightwork Partners in August 2006 for Putnam Investments and includes interviews with 5,419 respondents – of which 1,740 were working adults at least age 45 with at least one living parent and 1,330 were working adults at least age 45 with at least one child age 25 or older.

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