At work the senior guy who was 65 got injured
was he injured on the job such that he was eligible to file for and receive workmans compensation benefits?
if not, what was the nature of his injury
... and said he would retire, after his surgeries he came back and said he wanted to start work again.
does the employer have written documentation that he intended to retire after recovering from his surgery?
This is a big problem as I was moved to the senior slot,
did you actually receive a documented promotion to his former position or were you doing his job in an acting capacity while he was recovering from his surgery?
... have performed far better in terms of precision of work, problem solving and far less comeback ratio. Before he said he would retire close to 50% of his work either did not work or came back shortly after with major issues.
if you have the stats to support this comparison, it should be evident to your employer that you are the guy who needs to remain in the lead position. so, do you have the stats? would you consider going somewhere else - not quitting but looking for a better alternative - if you were 'demoted' back to your former job?
If people did not know I mostly work with automatic transmissions, as well as automotive, and have done such since I was young.
from your posts over the years it is evident you are a very knowledgeable gearhead
Well the boss informed me of such, and did not want him back,
that is encouraging that your direct report prefers your work to the person formerly doing the same job
... though she may be legally obligated to hire him back
this is one reason for asking about his actual employment circumstance when he underwent surgery and recovery; was he still an employee eligible to return to his former position?
... and wants to in that case hire him back and task him for cleanup duties.
that sounds like a good outcome for you - that you would continue in your present role
which then causes me to ask, what is the problem if you remain in your promoted position at your current wage even tho the older fellow returns to work
This guy I saw as a backstabber since day one, always acting friendly but trying to set others up for failure as if he was scared of any competition to his job, and looking at it now it looks like his retirement was a ploy in hopes I would do poorly and they would beg him to come back only to realize they did not, and instead him demanding to be brought back.
if that was his actual ploy and he did actually retire/leave the employer, then he has no basis to expect to be re-hired
on the other hand, if he was out on workmans comp and never left the employer he would have an eligibility to return in many instances, but not necessarily in the same job position as the business needed to move forward without him during his absence. which might explain the reason for allowing him to return to do the clean up assignments
another scenario is that he was out on workmans comp at reduced salary (80%) and realized he could not afford to actually retire ("full" social security retirement is now achieved at 66 years of age)
is it possible he wants to return for the time required to make 'full' retirement
and if he is like most prospective retirees, he has little to nothing saved to supplement his social security income. don't know, but it would not be a surprising factor in his about face decision
but again, other than having him around to snipe at you, the young whippersnapper replacing him, i don't have a good feel for what you would lose if he returns
In todays world how many have dealt with this, senior employees paranoid of competition, and even going as far as sabotaging any hope of a successor as they fear it would hurt their own security.
it is self interest - and we should all practice it, no matter your age
being 66 and retired for 15 years, i have been able to recognize how out of touch i am with the work now being done in my former role. seeing that caused me to realize that i am also too much out of the loop to continue to represent employees as a union official. my not being current could adversely affect the interest of the employee in need of union representation. having seen too many sports figures stay in the game too long i have also told younger sports officials, whose wisdom i admire, that they would be doing me a great personal favor by telling me when it is time to hang up my officiating cleats. if we are fortunate, we live long enough to be put out to pasture
from your post, if the employer is legally able to do so, seems like this may be the time for your former lead mechanic to do some grazing