The city considering a more flexible retirement age for their employees

The maximum retirement age for employees of Reykjavík city is now 70-72 years according to current contracts. According to an announcement from the city, the retirement age will be reevaluated soon and will be a part of the collective bargaining negotiations this fall. In the announcement it is stated that the city has agreed to take steps leading to a more flexible retirement age.

Possibility of retiring sooner or later

“Among other things it was agreed upon that the city would especially consider meeting demands of a more flextible retirement.” A city committee looking into the matter has been working on a more flexible plan since last September. One of their findings is that there needs to be flexibility going both ways, i.e. not only flexibility if people want to continue working longer than to the common age of 67, but also for people who want to stop working at an earlier age, or work less before they reach the age of 67.

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They also conclude that it is important to use the knowledge and experience of the older generation and finding good ways to share that with other members of staff, or other generations.

A two year experimental phase

The proposals that were agreed upon in a city meeting on August 18^th, include that the idea will be developed during a two year experimental phase, to see how it works, and after that take stock.

There will be an experimental group involved in the try-out phase and a selected workgroup will be on top of the experiment and find best practices and ways to implement a more flexible retirement for city workers.