knowledge 13 January 2026 |

Requests to work longer – changes to mandatory retirement ages become law

Scope

In short, the Act will allow, but not compel, employees to remain in work beyond a contractual retirement age until such time as they reach state pensionable age, currently 66 years of age, unless the employer can justify the retirement of that employee at the contractual retirement age on objective grounds.

The Act applies to employees subject to a contract of employment (whether express or implied) which specifies a contractual retirement age below the state pensionable age, and who have completed their probationary period. However, it does not apply to those employees whose employment is subject to a “maximum retirement age required by law” or whose employment is subject to a “maximum service limit”.

Process

Employees may still retire at retirement ages below 65. Under the Act, however, an employee who does not wish to retire at such a contractual retirement age may notify their employer in writing at least 3 months but not more than 1 year before the date on which they will reach the contractual retirement age that they do not consent to retire at the contractual retirement age. Employers can, effectively, require a notification period of up to six months.

Employees may still retire at a contractual retirement age below the state pension age. However, if they notify their employer under this Act, the employer must not enforce that contractual retirement age before providing a “reasoned written reply” to the employee within one month of receipt of the notification. The reply must set out why retirement at the contractual retirement age “of the employee concerned” is “objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim” and “the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary”.

Otherwise, the employer shall not retire the employee before a date to which the employee consents, or the state pension age, whichever occurs first.

An employee can notify their employer on a maximum of two occasions in any 6-month period. An employee may also withdraw a notification.

Remedies for employees

An employer must not penalise or threaten penalisation of an employee for proposing to make, or having made, a notification to their employer under the Act. Penalisation is broadly defined to include any act or omission on behalf of an employer affecting an employee to their detriment with respect to any term or condition of their employment.

Employees may take a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”), where an employer enforces a contractual retirement age without having provided a reasoned written reply to a notification under the Act; where an employer’s enforcement of a contractual retirement age is not objectively and reasonably justified for the employee concerned; or where an employer penalises or threatens penalisation of any such employee.

Among the powers enjoyed by the WRC in any such case are a power to enforce a “specified course of action, which may include re-instatement or re-engagement” of the employee concerned, as well as a power to award compensation. In the latter case, awards can be of such an amount as the WRC considers just and equitable having regard to all the circumstances, not exceeding €40,000, or two years’ remuneration, whichever is greater.

It is notable that the Act specifies that relief cannot be granted under both the Act and the Employment Equality Act 1998 (the “1998 Act”) where the conduct of an employer constitutes a contravention of both. As such, it remains to be seen whether claims are likely to be progressed under the Act, instead of the existing age discrimination framework under the 1998 Act.

Criminal offence

Employers should be mindful that failure to provide an employee with a reasoned written reply without reasonable cause shall be a criminal offence. Such an offence can attract penalties of up to twelve months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to €5,000, and crucially, the Act allows for directors, managers, secretaries and other officers to be liable where the offence is committed with their consent or connivance. It will, however, be a defence in any prosecution that a person “exercised due diligence and took reasonable precautions” to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Act.

Concluding remarks

Given the significant changes in the Act, some amendment to the WRC’s Code of Practice on Longer Working (2017) might properly be expected, to assist employers in navigating their obligations in respect of longer working.

The objective reasons justifying retirement at a contractual retirement age, under the Act, are required to justify retirement at that age “of the employee concerned”. As such, an individualised assessment by an employer appears to be necessary where a notification is made under the Act. The Supreme Court had, in the recent case of Mallon v Minister for Justice [2024] IESC 20, held that such an individualised assessment was not required to justify a mandatory retirement age under equality law as it then was, subject to limited exceptions. The Act, therefore, may represent a significant change in what is expected from employers. Nonetheless, in Mallon, the Supreme Court stated that a significant factor in assessing whether a mandatory retirement rule is proportionate was the financial impact on persons concerned, and the provisions of the Act might be considered to go some way to alleviating the financial impact of retirement.

Despite the welcome clarifications in Mallon, challenges to mandatory retirement ages, particularly before the WRC on age discrimination grounds, have continued to proliferate. The Act will make retirement of employees below the state pension age more difficult to withstand challenge, although it can be seen that mandatory retirement below 66 years of age is not prohibited outright. Prudent employers will carefully consider notifications properly received under the Act, and take appropriate advice in respect of any objective reasons relied upon to enforce a contractual retirement age.

Notably, the provisions of the Act are not effective until such time as the Minister makes the requisite commencement order.