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Employment Contractual Retirement Ages Act 2025: FAQs
2026-07-16
By Marketing（https://isme.ie/author/isme-marketing/）
Can you outline what this new piece of legislation is about?
The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025（https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2025/act/16/enacted/en/html） creates a new employment right that allows eligible employees to notify their employer that they do not consent to retire at the contractual retirement age, where this is lower than the State pension age of 66.
However, employees are not obliged to remain in employment beyond their contractual retirement age if they do not wish to do so.
The Employment Contractual Retirement Age Act 2025 came into effect here in Ireland on June 29 th 2026.
Will an employee need to give notice that they wish to stay until they are 66 years?
Employees will need to give a minimum of 3 months notice before their expected retirement date but not more than a year, and this notice needs to be in writing.
If an employee’s contract requires a longer notice period than 3 months, they must give either this amount or 6 months’ notice, whichever is shorter.
Can an employer refuse a request from an employee to remain in work beyond their retirement age up until aged 66?
Employers will be required to respond to written requests from employees in writing within 1 month of receiving it, explaining their reasons if they are refusing a request.
Employers cannot require an employee to retire before aged 66 years unless they can clearly justify this decision. They will need to clearly show that the retirement is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim.
What is the penalisation if an employer doesn’t comply with the rules under the act?
An employee can bring a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) where an employer does not comply with its obligations under the Act. The WRC may:
Declare that the complaint is or is not well founded
Require the employer to take a specified course of action, including re-instatement or re-engagement
Require the employer to pay the employee compensation of maximum 104 times the employee’s weekly salary or €40,000, whichever is greater
What if an employer doesn’t respond to an employee’s request?
This is an offence and is punishable by a fine not exceeding €5,000 or a maximum 12-month prison term, or both. Where this offence is committed by a company with the consent or knowledge of a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, that person shall also be guilty of an offence.