Data & Research September 3, 2009

Americans Still Fret about Money, Jobs

Economic and job issues remain high on workers’ worry lists, especially for younger workers, according to a poll by The Hartford.

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A news release said 55% of respondents listed personal financial concerns as the issue giving them the most stress, followed by 43% listing the state of the U.S. economy, and 27% citing the fear of being laid off.

The number one spot remained the same as last year, but the economy moved from fourth place last year to second place this year. The job-loss worry jumped to number three with a 16% hike over 2008 results, The Hartford said.

Meanwhile, work issues dropped 12%, going from third place to fourth place in the list of worries.

Generational Concerns

While every age group had increased concerns about their job, Generation Y (ages 18 to 29) appeared to be the most fretful, according to The Hartford. While fear of losing one’s job registered across all generations and genders, Gen X (ages 30 to 44) and Gen Y had the biggest increases in 2009 results.

“This is the first time that Generation Y has experienced these types of economic and career issues. They are concerned about their job security and are addressing their layoff concerns by staying in the workplace more this year,” said Marjorie Savage, absence management director in The Hartford’s Group Benefits Division.

The survey, carried out online by Opinauri in April, polled 1,019 U.S. adults age 18 to 64. The generational breakdown of survey participants was: 283 Gen Y workers, 290 Gen X, and 446 Baby Boomers (ages 45 to 65).

Compliance September 3, 2009

Drug Co. Lawyer not Eligible for Mandatory Retirement

A federal judge in Connecticut has ruled that a drug company improperly forced out its chief patent counsel after the lawyer reached age 65 in 2004.

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U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut said the actions by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals against Robert Raymond constituted a violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), according to the National Law Journal.  Raymond also served as vice president for intellectual properly.

Bryant ordered the company to pay Raymond two years’ worth of his salary.

Bryant ruled that Raymond’s job did not qualify for an ADEA provision allowing employers to have mandatory retirements starting at 65 for employees who are senior policymakers for at least 24 months before taking retirement. To qualify, the employee must be among a handful of executives who manage a significant number of other workers or a large volume of the company’s business.

According to Bryant’s ruling, the company began transferring Raymond’s duties to another lawyer in his group. Bryant concluded that the job wouldn’t have met the executive threshold even if Raymond’s duties weren’t transferred.

Bryant wrote that Raymond and another lawyer to whom the company shifted some of Raymond’s duties during her tenure “reported no higher than the general counsel.”

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