Dear Altaf Sayyed,
The employees are retained to work after retirement. This is nothing new. However, retired employees work as consultants and are paid a retainership fee. This relationship is out of the purview of the employer-employee relationship and the labour laws are not applicable.
Nevertheless, in a few companies, they continue to be normal employees. The discussion on their PF and ESI deduction took place earlier. Check the relevant threads.
Your question is about the risks involved in employing retired employees. This is especially about the mishap that may happen by chance. But then the retired employees are sufficiently senior and generally they are given office jobs. They may visit the shop floor but they may not directly work on the shop floor. if you perceive risk because of their work, then better to take their insurance.
Now let us come to risk assessment from the management science point of view. If your company continues to rely on the old employees, then this shows the failure of the replacement planning. Retirement of the employees does not happen suddenly. It is a foregone conclusion. Despite this, why was their successor not groomed? Another revelation of your query is the reliance on the persons rather than processes. Dependence on the people rather than processes is the biggest risk. Even now, your company needs to identify the successors and groom them.
Post-retirement placement may have one more side effect too. Such people may develop a bloated sense of self-worth and may start boasting about how they are indispensable. As such they are senior citizens. Countering their argument even if irrational is difficult. Against this backdrop, if they start throwing their weight, it could generate undercurrents of vexation among other employees.
I hope I have given sufficient pros and cons of employing the retired persons.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar