Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025
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PART 2 Contractual Retirement Age | ||
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Notification to employer concerning contractual retirement age | ||
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5. (1) Subject to subsection (2), where an employee is subject to a contract of employment which specifies a contractual retirement age that is less than the pensionable age and the employee does not consent to retire at the contractual retirement age, he or she shall so notify his or her employer in writing— | ||
(a) not less than 3 months but not more than one year before the date on which the employee will reach the contractual retirement age, or | ||
(b) where the employer notification period is greater than 3 months, not less than the employer notification period specified or the period of 6 months, whichever is the shorter. | ||
(2) An employee may, not more than twice in any 6 month period, notify his or her employer in accordance with subsection (1). | ||
(3) Subject to subsection (4), where an employee has notified his or her employer in accordance with subsection (1)— | ||
(a) the employer shall not enforce the contractual retirement age before providing a reasoned written reply in accordance with subsection (5), or | ||
(b) the employer shall not retire the employee before a date to which the employee consents, or the date on which that employee attains the pensionable age, whichever first occurs. | ||
(4) An employer who has received a notification from an employee under subsection (1) shall not enforce the contractual retirement age as regards the employee unless— | ||
(a) the retirement of the employee concerned at his or her contractual retirement age is objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim by the employer, and | ||
(b) the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary. | ||
(5) Where an employer has received a notification under subsection (1) and proposes to enforce the contractual retirement age under subsection (4), he or she shall, within one month of the notification under subsection (1), provide a reasoned written reply, setting out the justification for the purposes of subsection (4), to the employee. | ||
(6) An employee may withdraw a notification provided in accordance with subsection (1) but where he or she does so, the employee shall withdraw such notification in accordance with— | ||
(a) the employer notification period, or | ||
(b) the minimum period of notice calculated in accordance with section 4 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 , | ||
whichever is shorter. | ||
(7) In this section, “employer notification period” means the minimum period of notice specified by an employer as set out in a written contract of employment that an employee must provide when intending to terminate a contract of employment. |