Background to the Stop 67 Campaign

In January 2020, SIPTU launched the Stop 67 campaign which successfully stopped the State Pension age increasing to age 67 in January 2021. As a result, it currently remains at age 66.

However, a large cohort of contractual retirement ages in private sector contracts of employments remain at age 65. It was therefore important for SIPTU to have this gap in income bridged for workers.

To achieve this, SIPTU further campaigned, as a member of Pensions Commission, for workers to be legally allowed but not compelled to work to the State Pension Age and thankfully, this is exactly what the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 implements.

The Act was signed into law on 16th December 2025. It has not commenced yet as the Workplace Relations Commission are issuing a relevant Code of Practice in relation to the Act.

Who the Act Applies To

The Act applies to all private sector workers whose contractual retirement age is younger than the State Pension Age. Under the provisions in the Act, workers can notify their employer that they want to remain working past their contractual retirement age, up to the maximum of the State Pension Age (66).

How to Notify an Employer of Intention to Remain in Work

To do this, Employee’s must notify their Employers in writing no earlier than 12 months before their contractual retirement date and no later than 3 months before their contractual retirement date. An Employee cannot notify their employer more than twice in a 6-month period. If the Employee wants to withdraw their notification, they must do so within a specific time frame too – either within the notice period in their contract of employment or within the notice periods set out in the Minimum Notice Act.

Once the notification to remain working up to the maximum of the State Retirement Age is received, the Employer can agree to this. However, if they want to refuse, they must respond to the worker within one month with a reasoned reply, setting out the ‘objective justification’ for imposing the contractual retirement age.

Employer Obligations and Objective Justification

This ‘objective justification’ must relate to the individual worker and their personal circumstances, which means the process will be more rigorous and onerous than it currently is under the Employment Equality Acts. That Act typically assesses how the ‘objective justification’ is applied to a class of employees.

If the Employer does not send this response, they cannot force the worker to retire before the retirement age of their consent or before the State Retirement Age (whichever comes first).

Under the provisions of the Act, workers are also protected from penalisation for notifying their Employer that they do not consent to retiring at their Contractual Retirement Age. Penalisation includes dismissal, demotion, disadvantage and unfair treatment.

Remedies and Claims to the Workplace Relations Commission

Should an Employer not comply with their obligations under the Act (such as providing a reasoned reply, protecting a worker from penalisation, or objectively justifying their individual contractual retirement age) a worker can bring a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission under this Act and seek to be re- employed and / or compensation up to the maximum of two years’ salary or €40,000 (whichever is greater).

Claims under the Employment Equality Act for being forced to retire over the State Pension Age but not in line with your contract can still be taken. However, taking claims under both Acts in relation to same issue is prohibited.