The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is hosting a ‘Compliance-Ready’ webinar on Thursday 25 June aimed at helping companies prepare for intensified workplace inspections and the commencement of the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025 on 29 June 2026. Announced jointly by Enterprise Minister Peter Burke and junior minister Alan Dillon, the Act will give employees the right to remain in employment until the State pension age – currently 67 – unless an objective justification for mandatory retirement can be shown. For global-mobility managers, the change affects long-term international assignees whose contracts reference age-based termination clauses, as well as inbound transfers expecting to transition to local terms.
![WRC webinar guides employers on upcoming inspection regime and retirement-age law]()
In that context, VisaHQ’s Ireland team can help employers and international staff streamline every stage of the visa or work-permit process—especially when renewals must dovetail with newly extended retirement ages. Its digital platform (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) provides clear checklists, document validation and real-time status tracking, allowing HR and mobility professionals to stay audit-ready while freeing up time for broader compliance tasks.
The webinar will walk employers through how WRC inspectors will verify that amended contracts, pension schemes and work-permit renewals comply with the new rules. It also covers record-keeping expectations under the Posted Workers enforcement regime and the recently updated code on part-time working. Inspection activity is set to increase: the WRC has hired 20 additional inspectors and will target sectors with historically low permit-to-headcount ratios, notably hospitality, eldercare and agri-food. Non-compliance can attract on-the-spot fines of up to €2,000 per employee and criminal prosecution for serious breaches. Employers are encouraged to audit their expatriate and local workforce data, check that work-permit expiry dates align with any extended employment terms, and document objective grounds if they intend to retain a contractual retirement age below 67 for certain safety-critical roles. Recordings of the session will be available on the WRC website.
In that context, VisaHQ’s Ireland team can help employers and international staff streamline every stage of the visa or work-permit process—especially when renewals must dovetail with newly extended retirement ages. Its digital platform (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/) provides clear checklists, document validation and real-time status tracking, allowing HR and mobility professionals to stay audit-ready while freeing up time for broader compliance tasks.
The webinar will walk employers through how WRC inspectors will verify that amended contracts, pension schemes and work-permit renewals comply with the new rules. It also covers record-keeping expectations under the Posted Workers enforcement regime and the recently updated code on part-time working. Inspection activity is set to increase: the WRC has hired 20 additional inspectors and will target sectors with historically low permit-to-headcount ratios, notably hospitality, eldercare and agri-food. Non-compliance can attract on-the-spot fines of up to €2,000 per employee and criminal prosecution for serious breaches. Employers are encouraged to audit their expatriate and local workforce data, check that work-permit expiry dates align with any extended employment terms, and document objective grounds if they intend to retain a contractual retirement age below 67 for certain safety-critical roles. Recordings of the session will be available on the WRC website.
