Minnesota’s Retirement Presumption 

Do You Know the Rule?

Employers may be able to terminate a worker’s PTD benefits on an employee’s 67 birthday. This is because the workers’ compensation act presumes that, by that age, the employee would have left the workforce and started taking social security. 

Specifically, a previous version of Minnesota Statutes section 176.101, subdivision 4 (2016) presumed, for the purposes of ending PTD benefits, that an employee retires from the labor market at age 67. This is referred to as the “retirement presumption.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court recently addressed the following issues concerning the presumption, in Simonson v. Douglas County, No. A24-1309 (Minn. 04/16/25), a case that Simply Research subscribers have access to: 

1. The standard of proof necessary to rebut the retirement presumption; and  

2. The proper legal test for determining whether an employee has rebutted the retirement presumption. 

Standard of proof  

Employees must rebut the retirement presumption by a preponderance of the evidence. They need not meet the higher “substantial proof” standard. 

The employee has the burden of bringing forth such proof. She can’t meet that burden by simply stating that she is not retired. But a court may consider such a statement along with other evidence. 

Substantive standard for overcoming presumption 

When determining whether an employee has rebutted the retirement presumption in Minn. Stat. § 176.101, subd. 4 (2016), the question is "whether retirement would have happened anyway, even if the employee had not been disabled." 

Factors for determining whether employee would have retired 

Employers should keep in mind that: 

• There is no exhaustive list of factors to consider. 

• The factors are not a checklist. 

• The factors must be considered in relation to one another and balanced. According to the Simonson ruling, “compensation judges should consider the strength of each factor and assess how the factors interact with each other in a difficult and sensitive balancing process.” 

Some of the factors courts may consider are: 

• The availability of the type of work the employee was performing. 

• The presence or absence of a pension plan or other retirement arrangements and their adequacy. 

• The employee's age. 

• The employee’s work history. 

• The employee's willingness to forgo social security benefits if suitable work were available. 

Lesson for employers 

Prior to terminating PTD benefits, it’s prudent for an employer or the employer’s counsel to review the above factors and any other relevant factors and document any pertinent findings. 

Reviewing the factors and making initial inquiries may help the employer prepare for potential dispute. On the other hand, the employer might decide that, based on the factors, it’s appropriate to continue the benefits for the time being. 

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