Employees covered by 2025 Act

Employees aged 66 and older who wish to continue working

Notification process

Employees must serve written notice on their employer at least 3 months (can be increased to 6 months by the employer) but no earlier than 1 year prior to the contractual retirement age.

The notice must expressly cite section 5(1) of the 2025 Act and state that the employee does not consent to retiring at the contractual retirement age. A template notification letter is included in the updated Code of Practice.

Based on the default notice period of three months, the earliest effective date for a notice will be 29 September 2026.

Employees may withdraw a notification in accordance with their contractual or statutory notice period (whichever is shorter) and may not serve more than two notifications in any six-month period. This short timeframe may present challenges for workforce management and succession planning, particularly where notice for withdrawal could be as little as one week (being the shortest statutory notice period for persons with up to 2 years service).

Employees should make their requests no later than 3 months prior to the intended retirement date.

A follow up meeting should then be scheduled to allow the employee to advance their case, with the employer's decision communicated as early as practicable.

Employer considerations

An employer receiving a notification under the 2025 Act may not enforce the contractual retirement age unless it can be objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim with means that are appropriate and necessary.

The key change is that the objective justification must relate to the individual employee concerned with reference to their specific role, capabilities and circumstances.

This departs from the Supreme Court’s decision in Mallon v The Minister for Justice and others (2024) that held justifying a mandatory retirement rule “does not entail an individual assessment of those subject to that rule.”

The Mallon principles continue to apply to persons aged 66 and over under section 34(4) of the Employment Equality Acts.

Employers may consider objective justifications based on the organisation as a whole rather than carry out an individual assessment.

Legitimate Aims

Examples of legitimate aims (e.g. health and safety, succession planning) remain broadly the same between the two categories. The key difference is that, for employees covered by the 2025 Act, these aims must be referable to the specific employee. Health and safety, for example, cannot justify retiring an employee under 66 if their specific role is not safety critical.

Employer acceptance of request

Where a notification is accepted (or there is no appropriate objective justification), the existing contract continues in force up to the State pension age or intended retirement age.

Employers should ensure that terms and conditions of employment (particularly pension contributions, health insurance, life assurance and death in service benefits) can continue beyond the contractual retirement age.

Where a request from an employee aged 66 and over is accepted, continued employment will typically be on a post-retirement fixed-term contract with potentially different terms.

The fixed-term contract itself must be objectively justified (i.e. not based solely on the age of the employee).

Employer rejection of request

The employer must provide a reasoned written reply within one month, setting out the objective justification applicable to the individual employee.

Failure to respond within this time or an inadequate response may render the contractual retirement age unenforceable.

The employer should communicate the grounds for the refusal in a meeting with the employee. An appeals process should also be made available.

Penalisation

The 2025 Act includes anti-penalisation provisions for employees who exercise or wish to exercise their rights. Penalisation is broadly defined and includes:

• Dismissal

• Demotion

• Suspension

• Harassment or discrimination

• Any other detriment to the employee’s terms or conditions of employment

Employers should be aware that adverse treatment connected to a notification could give rise to a separate penalisation complaint.

No specific anti-penalisation provisions apply, but the Employment Equality Acts protect against victimisation (i.e. adverse treatment following a discrimination claim).

Remedies

Complaints may be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission within six months of the alleged contravention (extendable to twelve months for reasonable cause).

Redress under the 2025 Act includes:

• A declaration that the complaint is or is not well founded;
• An order requiring the employer to take a specified course of action, including re-instatement or re-engagement; or
• Compensation of up to 104 weeks' remuneration or €40,000 (whichever is greater).

Complaints may be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission within six months from the date of the alleged contravention (extendable to twelve months for reasonable cause).

Redress under the Employment Equality Acts includes:

· An order for equal treatment

· Compensation of up to 2 years' pay or €40,000 (whichever is greater) for discrimination

· Compensation of up to 2 years' pay or €40,000 (whichever is greater) for victimisation

· An order for a specified person to take a specified action

· An order for re-instatement or re-engagement

Sanctions

The 2025 Act introduces criminal sanctions for failure to provide a reasoned written reply within the required period which can be a fine not exceeding €5,000, up to 12 months’ imprisonment, or both.

There are no criminal sanctions under the Employment Equality Acts.