Tusla staff at risk of working beyond retirement age

There is a risk that staff at Tusla, the child and family agency, could continue to work past the age of retirement if they do not initiate their own exit process, an internal HSE audit has found.

The report analysed a sample of eight workers who retired in 2017 and 2018 to see how the system worked with regard to the management of pensions and lump sum payments.

Tusla became an independent entity in 2014 and has over 4,000 staff from a variety of original agencies including the defunct HSE Child and Family Services.

Employees prior to 2013 are members of the HSE’s employee superannuation scheme while newer entrants to public service positions are members of the single public service pension scheme.

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The objective of the audit was to provide assurances regarding controls being in place and operating effectively to ensure employees receive correct payments in a timely manner.

However, it found the responsibility for retirement lay with individual employees themselves. “Tusla employees might not initiate the retirement process and could continue to work after reaching their maximum retirement age,” it said.

Those in charge of personnel records said a notification is issued to those approaching retirement age within three months of the date.

Recommendations

However, a recommendation contained in the audit said human resources should now ensure that as part of standard procedures, responsibility for the notification and management of retirement reside with Tusla and not the employees.

The audit objectives were to examine if pension and lump sum payments were accurately calculated and paid within an appropriate timeframe.

However, it said, there are “no overall standard operation procedures in place documenting each department’s function in the process, or timeframe for submission of data between departments, resulting in a lack of clarity in relation to each department’s role and responsibility.”