You may be able to phase into retirement by reducing your hours over time

If you’re still working toward personal or professional goals before you’re ready to retire, phasing into retirement might be a helpful option. With your department’s approval of phased retirement, you’re able to reduce your hours for up to three years.

Phased retirement can especially ease some financial challenges or uncertainty because you’ll keep your benefits and a partial salary.

1. The Employee will contact the Benefits Office at retirement@uky.edu to request a service check. This will determine the eligibility of the employee to participate in the program. Employees must be at least 60 years of age with 15 consecutive years of service to be eligible.
2. Staff members who are interested in applying for Phased Retirement should make their request to their supervisor 3 months prior to their desired start date. Faculty should make the request 6 months prior.

   Supervisors should discuss the request with the administrator for their area or department. Consideration should be given to the type of position the employee has, the department’s ability to “backfill” the position on a part-time basis and the duration of the agreement. The department may decide not to approve the request.

3. If the department supports the request, the employee will complete the first page of the Phased Retirement Agreement and sign the bottom of the second page. The agreement should include the employee’s start and end date of the agreement (cannot exceed 3 years), FTE, and base salary (proportionate to the new FTE). Agreements can be renewed, but phased retirement cannot exceed 3 years in total.

   The departmental Unit Administrator will sign the first signature line on the second page.

   Next, the Dean/Director of the department/college will sign the second signature line on the second page.

4. The agreement will be submitted to the Retirement Office. A retirement officer will review the agreement for accuracy and sign the bottom of the first page.

   The Retirement Office will then obtain signatures from the Vice President or Associate Provost (only necessary for multi-year agreements), the Executive Vice President or Provost, and the Vice President of Human Resources.

5. Once all signatures are obtained, the retirement officer will return the completed agreement to the department for entry into SAP.

   If the employee works within a college, the retirement officer will also submit a final copy to Margaret Leach for the Board of Trustees.

6. The retirement officer will file a copy of the agreement in the employee’s record and enter the information into the phased retirement spreadsheet. The agreement serves as the notice of retirement. At the end of the agreement, if there is no subsequent phased retirement agreement, the retirement process is initiated.

   The retirement officer will reach out to the employee to discuss this process and enter the retirement action into SAP.

Interested in the full policy? See Administrative Regulation (AR) 3:2 which contains details on eligibility and impact on benefits.