New rights for older workers lay the ground for an increase in the retirement age, an employment expert has predicted.
Today, the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 comes into effect, which means workers can generally no longer be forced to retire at 65.
On The Claire Byrne Show, employment expert Peter Cosgrove said the change will benefit those who cannot afford to retire before the current State pension age of 66.
“This is really trying to bridge that one year gap that a lot of people have between when their pension kicks in and when they retire,” he explained.
“So, the key thing to understand is you've a right to request to stay on.
“The employer has a right to say no in certain circumstances, let's say health and safety or something like that.”
The law does not change the mandatory retirement age for members of the Defence Forces, which is currently 62, or An Garda Síochána, which is also 62 - although Gardaí may seek permission from the Minister for Justice to stay on.
For people working in the private sector, Mr Cosgrove said that if a company denies a person permission to continue working, then “the onus is very much on the employer” to explain why.
It is a change he expects will impact an ever increasing number of people.
“This is only going to go up and up because they say the average person born today has a 50% chance of living to 100,” he said.
“So, it's kind of hard to see us in the future of retiring 65 if our work life goes on a lot longer.”
State pension age
A proposed increase in the retirement age to 67 was cancelled by Fianna Fáil in 2020; however, Mr Cosgrove predicts the issue will soon return to the political agenda.
“I mean, it's been mooted already and politically it has not been a good thing to do,” he said.
“But eventually, as they look at the numbers down the road, it's very difficult for Governments to do it because they don't want the negative press.
“But the reality is, if you talk to people in the kind of actuary world, they say that it's very hard for us to see how this is going to continue if we don't raise that age.”
Main image: An older worker. Picture by: Alamy.com.
