Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025

Our Employment Law & Benefits team outlines the key features of the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 and its implications for employers. If enacted, it will require major changes to policies, contracts, and procedures. They also highlight practical steps employers should take now to prepare for compliance and reduce legal and operational risks.

What you need to know

• Right to notify employer: An in-scope employee may notify their employer if they do not consent to retire at the mandatory retirement age provided for in their contract. Instead, they can inform their employer that they wish to work until they reach the State Pension Age of 66.
• Notification requirements: Employees must provide written notice to their employer of their wish to work to the State Pension Age within a specific time period.
• Provision of a reasoned reply: The employer cannot enforce the contractual retirement age without providing a reasoned written reply. This response must be given within one month of notification, setting out the justification for the contractual retirement age.
• Objective and reasonable contractual retirement age: Employers must show that the earlier retirement age is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim and that the means of achieving it are appropriate and necessary.
• Redress options: A complaint may be brought to Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). A number of criminal offences for employers that fail to comply are also outlined in the Bill.
• Protection from penalisation: An employer shall not penalise or threaten penalisation where an employee proposes to exercise or exercises their right to notify.

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 was published on 1 April 2025. The Bill provides that an employee may notify their employer if they do not consent to retire at the mandatory retirement age provided for in their contract. Instead, they may indicate their wish to work to the State Pension Age of 66. This applies in situations where the contractual retirement age is less than 66 years of age. Some employees are deemed to be out of scope of the Bill, for example: those that have not completed their probationary period or those subject to a maximum retirement age, or service limit, as set out by law.

Notification requirements

If the employee does not consent to retire at the contractual retirement age, they must notify their employer, in writing:

• Not less than three months and not more than one year before the date on which the employee is due to reach the contractual retirement age, or
• Where the notification period provided in the employee’s contract for termination of their employment is greater than three months, not less than this period or the period of six months, whichever is the shorter.

An employee may not notify the employer more than twice in any six-month period.

Reasoned written reply

Where an employee has notified their employer, the employer cannot enforce the contractual retirement age without providing a reasoned written reply. The written reply must be provided within one month of notification. It should set out the justification for the contractual retirement age. Retirement at this contractual age must be objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim by the employer. In addition, the means of achieving the aim must be appropriate and necessary. If the employer does not provide a reasoned written reply, the employee can only be retired on a date they agree to, or when they reach the State Pension Age, whichever comes first.

Penalisation

Employers are not permitted to penalise or threaten to penalise employees that inform them of their wish to work until the age of 66. The Bill also prohibits any threat of penalisation for taking or proposing to take this step. Penalisation includes: suspension, dismissal, demotion, transfer of duties, discipline, harassment, discrimination and other similar detrimental acts and omissions.

Redress

An employee can bring a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission where the employer has not complied with the above obligations. An adjudication officer 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 the greater.

A number of criminal offences are also set out in the Bill for non-compliance. An employer who fails to provide an employee with a reasoned written reply will be guilty of an offence. This 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 involvement of a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, that person shall also be guilty of an offence.

Key steps for employers

The Bill has completed Dáil Éireann, First Stage and may be subject to changes. However, for now, there are a number of steps that employers may take in preparation for its possible enactment.

1. Informing and training staff: HR and management teams should be made aware of the proposed changes to the law and relevant training should be planned in the event of the Bill’s enactment.
2. Objective and reasonable justification: Employers should consider the reasons underpinning any contractual retirement age which is lower than the State Pension Age of 66. If the contractual retirement age is to be enforced, an objective, reasonable justification must be identified. The means of achieving this aim must be appropriate and necessary.
3. Audit policies and contracts: In light of the proposed legislation, employers should conduct an audit of existing retirement policies as well as employment contracts. Recruitment plans should also be reviewed with the provisions of the Bill in mind.
4. Records: Employers should ensure that a robust record system to document employee notifications is in place, in the event that the Bill is enacted.

Conclusion

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 aims to provide employees with greater autonomy over their retirement decisions. If enacted, it will require employers to adapt both their policies, systems and recruitment processes under penalty of civil and/or criminal sanction. It is recommended that employers seek expert legal advice to understand their potential obligations and to mitigate legal risk.

For more information and expert advice, contact a member of our Employment Law & Benefits team.

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The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.