Many Irish employers include a mandatory retirement age in their
contracts of employment or employee handbooks.
The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2021 ("Equality
Acts") prohibit discrimination in employment on a
number of grounds, including age. However, there is an exception
that allows employers to impose a mandatory retirement age on
employees, provided the retirement age can be objectively
justified.
The retirement age must be objectively and reasonably justified
by reference to a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that
aim (compulsory retirement at the appointed age) must be
appropriate and necessary. Health and safety concerns in safety
critical occupations, intergenerational fairness, the preservation
of personal and professional dignity by avoiding capability issues
with older employees, succession planning, and the creation of a
balanced age structure in the workforce have all been accepted by
the Workplace Relations Commission
("WRC") as
