THE GOVERNMENT HAS approved a Bill to outlaw a mandatory retirement age for any person who is not willing to leave a company before qualifying for a State pension.

Employment Minister Simon Coveney received Cabinet approval for the General Scheme of the Employment (Restriction of Certain Mandatory Retirement Ages) Bill 2023.

The Bill will now be referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Under the proposed legislation, a clause in an employment contract which sets a mandatory retirement age below the State pension age will not be enforceable without the consent of the employee.

If an employee provides written notice to their employer that they do not consent to the mandatory retirement age, the employer must not retire the employee before a date to which they do consent to retire or before the State pension age, whichever is the earlier date.

Where the employee does not consent to retire at the mandatory retirement age set out in their employment contract, that age shall be read as though the age referred to is the earlier of the date at which the employee consents to retire or the State pension age.

The proposed Bill follows a recommendation from the Commission on Pensions Commission.

Officials met with IBEC, ICTU and SIPTU to advise them on the overall policy approach. The possible impact of the proposed changes on SMEs has also been considered in line with the SME Test.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has welcomed the move. 

General Secretary Owen Reidy said the ICTU “has long argued there is a sizeable and growing number of workers who are forced to retire earlier than they would wish because of the age of retirement in their employment contract, typically 65″.

“While legislation increased the compulsory retirement age from 65 to 70 for most public services workers in 2018, workers in the private sector have been left with soft measures which have proved inadequate for far too many workers wanting to remain in their job longer,” he said. 

The latest Workplace Relations Commission Annual Report, published last May, reported a 176% increase in age-related discrimination complaints – up from 186 cases in 2021 to 514 in 2022.

“This reform recognises differences between what workers want and the type of work they do in giving them more choice about the age at which they retire,” Reidy said.

“Under the change which is expected to come into force later this year, workers can still retire at the age specified in their contract of employment. The decision to remain on in your job will be optional.”