Iceland’s Health Minister Willum Þór Þórsson wants to speed up plans to raise the mandatory retirement age for healthcare workers to 75, RÚV reports. Public employees may not work past the age of 70 according to current regulations. Willum has stated that the move is intended to help relieve staffing issues that plague Iceland’s healthcare system, though more needs to be done.
If the regulations are amended, healthcare workers will still be dismissed upon reaching the age of 70, but would be eligible to be rehired on a new employment contract until the age of 75. Willum stated that such employees may be subject to a skills assessment.
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The Health Minister stated that although raising the mandatory retirement age would hopefully relieve staffing issues, it would still be necessary to make various medical professions more accessible to young people and improve recruitment across the field.
