Retirement Age for Private Employees in Pune: Is There a Legal Requirement?

What should be the retirement age of an employee of a private company in Pune, Maharashtra, India? Is there any statutory requirement or provision for the same? If yes, under which Act?

There is no mandatory retirement age for private companies. State Governments and the Central Government have separate service rules applicable to their employees, in which the retirement age is defined.

Service rules for private organizations

In a similar manner, private organizations can also have service rules where the retirement age is defined. Such service rules are sometimes called Standing Orders (which are mandatory concerning workers), Employee Handbook, HR Manual, etc.

Once these rules are communicated to and accepted by the employees, they become binding on them.

Dear colleague,

The Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act/Rules contain Model Standing Orders wherein the age of retirement is stated to be 58 years in the absence of any agreement between workers and the management to the contrary.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant

Dear colleague,

The trend in the industry largely is to follow Model Standing Orders rather than go for certification, which is fraught with a lot of procedural hassles, particularly if you have an active union in the organization. Even if you go for it, very little change from MSO becomes possible in the face of objections from the union. Whether you have certified SO or MSO, the age of retirement is part of it, which has legal binding if the Act is applicable.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant