abstract:The term job lock is used to describe the inability of an employee to freely leave a job because doing so will result in the loss of employee benefits (usually health or retirement related). In a broader sense, job lock may describe the situation where an employee is being paid higher than scale or has accumulated significant benefits, so that changing jobs is not a realistic option as it would result in significantly lower pay, less vacation time, etc.
Further, successful reform would reduce the phenomenon of "job lock, " in which workers are reluctant to leave a job with employer-sponsored health insurance out of fear that they will not be able to find affordable coverage.
O'Driscoll, who led Ireland to the Six Nations Grand Slam this year, was expected to captain the Lions to South Africa, but coach Ian McGeechan gave the job to Munster lock Paul O'Connell.