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ARTICLE · 11 APRIL 2024

Mind The Gap! Employees To Be Allowed Work Until State Pension Age

William Fry LLP
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The General Scheme seeks to allow, but not compel, an employee to remain in employment until reaching the "pensionable age" under social welfare legislation.

IrelandEmployment and HR
Ian Devlin
Ian Devlin
Richard Smith
Richard Smith
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The government recently published the General Scheme of the Employment (Restriction of Certain Mandatory Retirement Ages) Bill 2024 (General Scheme).

The General Scheme seeks to allow, but not compel, an employee to remain in employment until reaching the "pensionable age" under social welfare legislation. "Pensionable age" is currently age 66 (State Pension Age). These reform proposals follow State Pension reforms which we discussed in a previous article. Both reforms were agreed by the Cabinet in 2022 after the Pension Commission's report, in tandem with the decision for the State Pension Age to remain at age 66.

Mandatory retirement ages (MRAs) remain a common feature in employment contracts in Ireland. Our previous article discussed the enforceability of MRAs. The General Scheme does not seek to abolish MRAs and it is important to remember that employers can still seek to enforce their MRAs if the following conditions are met: (1) the MRA is objectively and

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