RTF is flawed because it does not support tables and OLE.
Save as -> Office document 97/2000/XP/2003 has not been cancelled. If an employee does not know such elementary things, I personally begin to steal thoughts about his "professional suitability."
As a rule, the preservation in a lower version on the usability of the document does not affect, and if it affects, then the employee with a 90% likelihood was foolish - added to the objects shadows and other shit.
File Format Converter is designed for Office XP and 2003, but according to unconfirmed data is even put on the 2k-th. It is free and allows you to open 90% of files in docx/xlsx/pptx formats. If even the converter did not work out, I recommend the employee to go around the fucker with the book "Word for the teasers", because it is still necessary to apply SO exotic formatting.