The usual retirement age is 60, although some departments allow you to work until 65. In South Africa (SA) you can apply for pension if you are a woman or man 60 years or older you can get a monthly old age grant payment from the government. You must be a citizen or permanent resident of SA.
An employer may retire its employees when they’ve reached an agreed or normal retirement age. The employment relationship terminates automatically when the employee reached this agreed or normal age. And this does not constitute a dismissal for purposes of the Labour Relations Act, nor is it automatically unfair.
However also based on the above information an employer cannot mere force an employee to resign, even if that employee has reached the age of 65. It’s advisable for employers to ensure that they include an agreed retirement age when concluding contracts of employment. Or if they’re relying on the concept of normal retirement age, they must ensure that such a norm has been ongoing and that it applies the norm consistently.
However, if the existing contracts of employment don’t deal with retirement, they cannot be unilaterally changed. Changes must be agreed with the incumbent employees. Should an employer be unable to show that it retired an employee based on the agreed or normal retirement age, it may amount to an automatic unfair dismissal and compensation of up to 24 months and/or reinstatement.
