Working past retirement age in Ireland: the 2026 rules

"Retirement age ireland 2026" is searched by people in their early sixties who have been told the company retires everyone at 65, and by people who have noticed that the State pension does not start until 66. The gap between those two ages is where most of the difficulty sits, and it is the gap that the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025, in force since 29 June 2026, was passed to close. This guide covers the general position, the objective justification test for a contractual retirement age, the new notification right, who it does not cover, fixed-term contracts after retirement, and the age discrimination route.

No general compulsory retirement age

Irish law does not set a retirement age for private employment. Nothing in the employment Acts requires anyone to stop working at 65, 66 or any other age. A retirement age exists only where it has been put there by:

• your contract, in the contract itself or in a handbook or pension scheme rules incorporated into it
• a collective agreement that applies to you
• a statute, for certain public servants, the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána and some other roles with their own retirement provisions

If your contract is silent on retirement, there is no retirement age and the employer cannot invent one at the point you reach 65. Ending your employment because of your age in that situation is a dismissal, and one that may be discriminatory on the age ground.

The State pension at 66

The State pension (contributory) is paid from 66, subject to PRSI conditions. That figure was due to rise to 67 and 68 under earlier legislation, but the increases were cancelled, and 66 is the age that applies. Because many older contracts set retirement at 65, a year's gap opened in which a person could be retired by their employer but not yet entitled to the State pension. Jobseeker's payments and a specific payment for people aged 65 have filled the gap for some, but the 2025 Act addresses it at the source.

Retirement age under your contract and the age at which an occupational pension pays out are separate questions. Working past the scheme's normal retirement age may affect how and when the pension can be drawn, which is a question for the scheme administrator and the Pensions Authority rather than for employment law.

Contractual retirement ages and objective justification

A contractual retirement age treats people differently because of age, which is one of the nine grounds under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015. The Acts allow it, but only where the employer can show that the age is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim and that the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary.

Legitimate aims the WRC and the courts have accepted include intergenerational fairness (creating opportunities for younger staff), workforce planning, health and safety in physically demanding or safety-critical roles, and avoiding disputes about capability in later years. The aim has to be real for that employer, not recited from a textbook, and the age chosen has to be a proportionate way of achieving it. An employer that has let other people work past the age, or that has no succession plan to point to, will struggle to show either.

The WRC's Code of Practice on Longer Working (2017) sets out how employers should handle retirement: tell employees in good time (it suggests 6 to 12 months before) that the contractual age is approaching, consider requests to work longer on their merits, and give a reasoned written decision. A failure to follow the Code is evidence in an age discrimination complaint.

The 2025 Act: notifying that you will work to 66

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 (No. 16 of 2025) was commenced on 29 June 2026. It applies where your contract sets a retirement age below the State pension age of 66. It gives you the right to notify the employer, in writing, that you do not consent to retire at the contractual age and intend to continue in employment until you reach 66.

The notification

The notice must be given no earlier than 12 months and no later than 3 months before you reach the contractual retirement age. A notice outside that window does not trigger the Act's protection, so the dates matter. Most people give it around 6 months out, which leaves time for the employer's answer and for any dispute. The letter builder drafts the notification with the Act's wording and the dates.

The employer's answer

Once a valid notice is given, the employer must either accept it, in which case you continue on your existing terms until 66, or refuse it. It may refuse only where retiring you at the contractual age is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary: the same test as under the Equality Acts, but now applied to a specific request with the burden on the employer to show it is met. The refusal must be in writing and give the reasons.

Retiring you at the contractual age after a valid notice, without a justification that meets the test, is a dismissal and may be discriminatory on the age ground. Compensation for a dismissal on the age ground under the Employment Equality Acts can be up to 2 years' pay (104 weeks), and the complaint goes to the WRC within 6 months of the dismissal. See discrimination at work: the nine grounds and the WRC awards register for the pattern of awards in age cases.

Working on after the notice

If the employer accepts, nothing changes: your contract, pay, leave and service continue to 66. You can resign earlier in the ordinary way, with the notice in resigning, notice and references. You cannot use the Act to work beyond 66; after that, the position reverts to your contract and the Equality Acts.

Who the Act does not cover

The Act does not apply to public servants whose retirement age is set by statute, nor to roles where a statutory retirement age applies for safety reasons, such as certain emergency services and transport roles. Public servants with contractual rather than statutory retirement ages are covered. If you work in the HSE, the civil service, education or another public body, check which applies to your grade; the civil and public service page covers the main schemes.

If you want to work past 66

The 2025 Act stops at 66. Beyond that, the question is the one that applied to everyone before 2026: does your contract set a retirement age, and if so can the employer objectively justify it? An employer that has no contractual age cannot retire you at 66 either. An employer that has one, and can justify it, can. Many employers offer work past the contractual age on a fixed-term basis, which is covered next.

Fixed-term contracts after retirement

A common arrangement is to retire the employee at the contractual age and re-engage them on a one-year fixed-term contract, sometimes renewed. The Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 allows a fixed term after retirement, but the employer must have objective grounds for it, and the arrangement has been contested at the WRC where the grounds were thin. Points to know:

• A fixed-term contract after retirement must give you the same treatment as a comparable permanent employee, pro rata, unless objective grounds justify a difference.
• Successive fixed terms beyond 4 years' continuous service can become a contract of indefinite duration, though continuity may be broken by the retirement itself if the break is genuine.
• The non-renewal of a fixed term is a dismissal unless the contract excluded the Unfair Dismissals Acts in writing for that expiry, which post-retirement contracts almost always do; see fixed-term contract not renewed.
• Statutory redundancy is payable on the expiry of a fixed term where the job itself has ceased, with service calculated across the whole period if it is continuous.

If you are offered a post-retirement fixed term, ask for the objective grounds in writing and for confirmation of how your leave, pension contributions and sick pay will be handled on the new contract.

Age discrimination more broadly

Retirement is one end of the age ground. The Employment Equality Acts also prohibit less favourable treatment on grounds of age in recruitment, training, promotion, pay and selection for redundancy, and prohibit harassment related to age. Being passed over for training because "you'll be retiring soon", or selected for redundancy on an age-related criterion, are the recurring examples in the WRC's published decisions. The complaint is made within 6 months of the act complained of, on the online form, with no fee, and the WRC can award compensation of up to 2 years' pay. Discrimination at work: the nine grounds covers the route in full and the WRC deadline checker works out the date.

Pension auto-enrolment runs to age 60, so it does not affect workers approaching retirement, but anyone with questions about how continuing to work interacts with an occupational or State pension should ask the scheme administrator, the Department of Social Protection or a regulated adviser; the employment Acts do not answer those questions.

Where this leaves you

If your contract sets a retirement age below 66, the step that matters is a written notification, no later than 3 months and no earlier than 12 months before that age, that you intend to continue to 66. The letter builder drafts it with the Act's wording. After that, the burden is on the employer: it can refuse only with a written, objectively justified reason, and retirement without one is a dismissal that may be discriminatory on the age ground, which the WRC can hear. If your contract sets no retirement age at all, there is nothing to notify and nothing the employer can rely on. The 2025 Act and any guidance issued under it are tracked on /changes, and the glossary explains the terms used here.