Is it that they can force you to continue to work or that you won’t get your pension, even at the retire early level, if you leave in August? It seems like they can’t literally force you to work, but can impact your retirement benefits. So sorry this is happening.
@ProfandParent , So sorry you’re going through this. I don’t know the ins and outs of your contract, but do know that once you make that difficult decision that now is the time to leave, it’s really hard to be in a staying place in your head.
I hope you can find the strength/energy to do what you must. Sending virtual support.
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I called HR but got someone extremely inexperienced. I am waiting for a knowledgeable person to call me back. Hopefully they can tell me the implications.
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Good luck! I was asked to stay on another month for mostly administrative reasons and even that was hard to wrap my brain around! Even though it was a very reasonable request I still thought about it for a day or two before agreeing. There is no way I would have agreed to another year!! (I did give 6 months notice).
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I gave a month’s notice (maybe closer to two months - it’s been 6.5 glorious work-free years, so I can’t remember the details), but ended up staying for 5 months. Even with that extended time, they dragged their feet on hiring and gave me very little time to train a fabulously inexperienced person for my job. There was no way I was staying any longer. As it was, I negotiated a few things that were favorable to me in exchange for staying as long as I did. I actually was still working after 5 pm on my last day, trying to get things “ahead” for my clueless replacement, and my coworker walked me out of my office & told me that I needed to be done.
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ProfandParent - I’ve found talking with multiple people in the HR arena can be helpful. Some are new and don’t give complete/correct info.
For those that have had jobs with good relationships/leadership - how much notice did you give, ahead of departure date?
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My wife retired 6 months shy of 65. She had planned to go at 65 but after a conversation with our financial advisor realized she could go earlier which enabled her to do “grandma daycare” after our grandson was born.
For me , it was a question of retirement envy and after consultation with with our financial advisor and checking the federal retirement rules, I retired at 58
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In March of 2019 I told my manager that I planned to retired between June 2019 (when my husband retired) and June 2020. For a variety of reasons, including waiting for my husband to be 65/Medicare… I eventually settled on June 2020. When my mother went into hospice, I pushed it out another month so I would have time to take extra vacation/comp time to spend with her… while also helping my team to ramp up for my backfill and to get through a time-sucker internal audit.
Things that did not work out were a proposal to go part time (manager was fine with it, but I knew I’d still end up working 40 hours). And possiblity to go Europe to train the backfill team mates along with retired hubby (manager liked that idea, but Covid came along and ruined the plan).
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I gave notice in the fall of 2020 that I was retiring on 01/31/21. It was advantageous to do so as my PTO bank filled up January so I got paid for a few weeks PTO when I left.
My boss and department head appreciated the notice, but per the company rules they were not allowed to advertise for my replacement until a few weeks before my last day, so there was a gap in my department while they went through the hiring process.
It was odd retiring during the pandemic. My department and most others were 100 percent remote , I was in the office one morning a week to do a few things that could not be done remotely. My department head came in daily, he was the only one of my colleagues I saw in person for the last 14 months!
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I gave three weeks, but I didn’t feel warmly toward my boss. 
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Apologies for 2 posts. I actually gave my bosses about 2 years notice. My job was largely project based with projects typically taking about a year. I spent much of the last 2 year mentoring different people that were taking over different chunks of my portfolio. It worked well for me and my employer
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I had been talking about it as a possibility for a while. My boss asked me to give him 6 months notice (I supervised a lot of people and oversaw a lot of programs) so I did. No reason not to. As I said above I actually ended up staying 7 after I gave notice but the last month was just wrapping stuff up - my job had already been reassigned.
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I gave two weeks. My job was not one that was replaceable/required training a replacement and, even if it did, not my problem. My boss was/is a dear lifelong friend. He knew years before I retired what my life objectives were that would signal my leaving, no surprises, and he got a big boost to his salary expense when I e-mailed him with the date. On my last day, he took the entire department (all five of us) to an all-afternoon lunch where we all called it day after he picked up the check.
@ProfandParent, I hope things go well with you with HR. 
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Interesting to hear all the different stories - clearly, the amount of notice is fact-specific.
A friend at work who retired five years ago (very similar job to mine) gave about two month’s notice. She is encouraging me to wait until then although I was leaning toward six.
This thread has encouraged me to think it through specifically for myself. I will probably let my manager then team know as soon as we have final strategy session with financial planner. That would be most helpful to the team.
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I personally know someone who retired on very short notice. He refused to teach what he was assigned (two seminars!) and said if he had to he would retire. The Chair said the rules are that he would have to return his sabbatical salary if he did not work for one year after his return (he had just returned). He negotiated with the Dean to retire and NOT return the salary, because it was in everyone’s interest that he retire (he was more expensive and contributed less than most people). So I know it can be done. But it was a different administration and a different context so I am not sure, but at least I know 6 months is not always required.
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I should have added I didn’t tell my staff for a few months - didn’t want to be a lame duck for 6 months. I hinted at it but they didn’t know it was imminent until about 3 months prior.
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You all know my job! I gave a LOT more notice than I needed to give because I worked in a shortage area, and I wanted the school district to have an early start finding my replacement. So…I gave my letter of resignation in January…ending that school year. In my state, I could have given almost no notice if it was during the summer…and before July 31. Otherwise districts can hold a person for 30 days in the job, and most do. It takes time to find replacements.
But as I said upstream…I knew I wanted to leave my full time job…which I really liked…while I still really liked it. That was in 2011…and I don’t regret it at all. I did a bunch of long term leave positions, but I think I’m finally done with those too!
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A number of friends work at law forms that force partners to retire, but it’s over a couple of years, with fewer working days as it goes on. The time is used to transition clients to a new partner but also to help the retiring person, who has been working insane hours, to start developing a life outside work. They all report their final “step away” to be welcome as they actually have things they are excited to do.
I gave 3 months notice (and was asked to extend by one month), but it was a complicated scenario involving the purchase of the company.
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@gardenstategal that’s really nice of the law firms to have a plan to help the older partners develop a life outside of work with a slow exit. I’ve worked with a lot of people who seem to have given just about everything to work. It’s got to be a hard transition if sudden…
@thumper1 - that was generous of you to give them the extra time …
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Well…in addition, I actually found my own replacement. I was an early implementer of IPad applications for SLPs. I did a lot of staff development in my district as well as a number of others. A colleague of mine had a friend from out of state who wanted to do some PD, so I offered to do a mini session with her.. Turns out her family was from this area. She is VERY sharp…and I asked her if she might be interested in a local job. My job had not been posted…I’m not sure my resignation had been accepted by the BOE. Anyway…I kept in close touch with her, and she applied, interviewed and was chosen. My boss knew I had suggested her…and was very pleased I had done so.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has done something similar.
My DH gave his company a year’s notice. They asked him to stay on as a per diem consultant for the following year, which he did (it was really working full time). He then did consulting with them for another 9 months with a different pay structure. And then he was done! But in the interim, they were interviewing for his replacement. One of the candidates really rose to the top, and DH actually supported his hiring. The 9 month ending time was a transition time for the company and this new employee.
I think it’s nice to be helpful to employers who have been good to you over the many years.
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