Does anyone know anything about pension bridging? I've heard rumors that pension bridging is potentially available if you are within two years of being eligible to retire, but details are light beyond that.
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There was a time in Shell in early 80’s when HR was employee supported. The work was highly efficient even with paper forms. Something happened in the 90’s and beyond - initially pro company only, then oriented to management support with shift to heavy DEI focus and by the time I left it was HR only focused (survival based and on an island). Professionalism dropped substantially and they became highly political and not to be trusted.
@10b Was he age 50+ and did he have at least 19 years of service? Meeting all three seems to be the requirement to get bridged.
A colleague of mine went to Martinez. He was 6 months away from 70 points in closing date of sale. Shell did not bridge his pension or medical….
@h1
if you are being offered severance, with age 50 and 19-years of service they would spell out that you are eligible or not. There is no choice for them. Kind of like Yoda says "there is no try only do or do not!" 18 years and 11 months and 3 weeks does not make it. it has to be 19 years or more.
your team leadership, VP
@hg what leadership?
get alignment on your situation from leadership ASAP. Unless you have someone in leadership pulling for you, special leave of absence may not happen.
@OP I am in this boat right now. 50+ in age, 19 years service. Hoping I can take the special leave of absence to hit the 20 year service mark....
@dq that sounds about right! There was someone in our org suspected of dr-g use toward the end of 2023. Contacted Shell Health several times with documentation asking for guidance. Nothing but crickets…this employee eventually “left on their own” and was in rehab within a few weeks. At no point in the year leading up to the event nor after the employee was out of Shell, did health or HR even reply. “Busy” should come with an asterisk for anyone in those groups. Dig deep enough and they’re all working on their own little pet projects. Enjoying a free ride at our expense. I imagine either story is just a tip of the iceberg dealing with those functions. Why must we continue paying for support functions that don’t support…
Agree, don’t look to Shell HR for any substantive guidance.
During an acquisition a while back, I was managing a department that had duplicate/overlapping positions with the acquired department. I continually asked for HR guidance on transparent evaluation criteria, what to communicate to at-risk staff, etc. etc. to be fair as well as to ensure no missteps for Shell.
I got ZERO replies to numerous messages to our HR contacts. Weeks after the deal was done and staff decisions made, I received an email from HR saying they were sorry to not reply but had been very busy.(!) Really? More like very busy ducking responsibility and accountability.
Yes - Don’t look to Shell HR for any substantive guidance.
@c5 couldn’t agree more…HR is not here for employees. They’re here to support upper managers to EC level and no one else under that. Even support to line supervisors and lower managers like JG3s are going to be hard pressed to get actual support. Most of the corporate functions (RE and medical come to mind) are here for very high level support and offer nothing of value to day to day business or operations groups. I hope all of the corporate functions get reduced after P&T goes away. Tired of groups just working on how they justify themselves instead of adding value. Or even trying to add value for that matter.
Bridging in the US is called a special leave of absence in Shell's documentation. HR were hardliners in the past you have to meet three criteria within a year you must have >=70 points, you must be >=49, you must have >=19 years of service. Not meeting any one disqualifies you. A 55 year old with 18 years of service does not qualify even though they would have 73 points and be old enough... too few years of service. A 49 year old with 19 years of service would qualify for a special leave of absence.
Don't expect them to do anything nice, they just follow rigid guidelines always favoring Shell and not the employee and hope not to be sued. And you might think that this next statement is false, but it really is true. HR staff are trained not to answer your questions. They are trained to refer you to relevant sections of employee manuals. That way they cannot be sued for telling you something that is incorrect. It is really frustrating to deal with them.
Search hr online for any year’s special US severance policy document, the details have been in there for years on how it works. Can change at any time in the future though.
My understanding is that if you are within 12 months of receiving 70 or 80 points (and you will be at least 50 y/o at retirement) they will bridge you.