Not knowing your situation I'll let you know what worked for us. My wife was a year away from her retirement pension and many years from early Social Security at 62. With retirement came health insurance for which she would pay a mandated share of the cost. We went to the employer and suggested a win-win situation. My wife would take a 1 year leave of absence at no pay and would pay the full-cost of her health insurance for that year. At the end of the year she would return to retire. The employer could then hire a new employee fresh out of college for about 40% of what they would have paid my wife with her 32 years on the job. Everyone was happy with the deal. Thinking out of the box worked for us!

It is my understanding that the employer liked the idea so much that they later offered it to others as an incentive for early retirement with no direct cost to the company.