Mandatory Retirement Age People Jobs Retire Dangerous Work

In some "professions" (types of work), people are "subject to" (controlled by certain rules of) "mandatory retirement," which specifies that they must retire at a certain age, regardless of whether they would like to continue working. This is most common in jobs that are very dangerous or require very "acute" (sharp) "mental" (related to thinking) abilities.

For example, "pilots" (people who fly airplanes) have a mandatory retirement age of 65. Most "air traffic controllers" (people whose job is to monitor the positions of airplanes in the sky and make sure they don't get too close to each other) have a mandatory retirement age of 56. Many police officers, "park rangers" (people who work in protected natural areas) and firefighters have a mandatory retirement age of 57. Most "military personnel" (people serving in the army, navy, etc.) have a mandatory retirement age, too, especially those who work in dangerous jobs on the "front lines" (where the physical fighting happens).

Some people believe that mandatory retirement is illegal or at least wrong, because it is based on an age rather that one's ability to perform the a particular job. They argue that if someone is still capable of performing the "duties" (what one is expected to do in a job), then that person's age should not matter.

The "Age Discrimination in Employment Act" (law) "prohibits" (does not allow) employers from forcing people to retire once they reach a certain age. However, certain jobs like the ones listed above are "exempt" (not affected by the law).