New retirement age rights for employees have come into effect.
The legislation allows eligible workers to choose to remain in employment beyond their contractual retirement age, where that age is below the State pension age of 66.
Currently, thousands of employees are forced to retire at the traditional retirement age of 65, as stated in their employment contracts, one year before the State pension commences.
These new rules will give workers the option to work for an additional year to bridge that gap but there will be no requirement to do so.
The new rules do not apply to employees with a retirement age of 66 or higher, or if their retirement age is set by law such as An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces.
The compulsory retirement age for most public and civil servants increased to 70 in 2018.
The new right will allow employees to formally notify their employer that they do not consent to retire at their contractual retirement age.
To do so, they must provide at least three months’ notice, and no more than 12 months’ notice before the intended retirement date.
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Employers are required to carefully consider any notification and if they intend to enforce a retirement age, they must respond in writing within one month.
They must also clearly set out the decision and ensure that it complies with the higher legal threshold set out in the legislation.
Employers cannot require an employee to retire unless they can justify this decision.
They must objectively and reasonably justify the retirement of the employee concerned by a legitimate aim and that the means of achieving that aim is appropriate and necessary.