dismal wrote:Didn’t know you had to apply to quit. Or is that a workers comp thing?
Workers Comp is totally separate from retirement, they have nothing to do with each other. Workers Comp is an insurance payout taken out on the employee by the employer (which is not taxed and is limited in duration) while retirement is a pension into which the employee has paid, is often paid out to the employee for life (either the employee, their designated survivor, or the life of the fund) and is taxed.
Typically, one needs to give an appropriate amount of notice prior to terminating one's employment if one wishes to leave in good standing. This is especially true if one is to receive some sort of severance package upon leaving otherwise said package is often forfeited. In many cities, there is also an incentive in the form of an addition to the severance package for giving advanced notice of retiring.
There is also the need to give notice to the pension board if one wishes to recieve a pension for the first month free retirement. That typically takes 30 days and requires the city to confirm the employee is leaving.
Then there may be contract language that allows the employee to cancel the retirement notice or receive preferential treatment if they wish to return to work provided they left on good terms. This can play into disability as one could conceivably return to work after being "cured" with treatment.
Those are a few examples of why one gives advance notice, even if one did not like their employer. The loss of severance can be significant which is the major reason for following protocols. One must also remember that notice to retire does not necessarily take affect next week or even next month as the incentives for advance notice can extend up to 6 months for maximum benefits.
Providing those giving notice actually can afford to leave, giving advanced notice may also be a bargaining ploy to get the city to move in a certain direction as it would be difficult to cover such a significant percentage of the force leaving in a relatively short time. With the current penalties for early retirement, many are unable to afford leaving early. The only hope would be to have the city agree with a diagnosis of PTSD by the time the given retirement date arrives. That is pretty unlikely and that does not take into account the ruling of the pension board which is run by the state and not the city.