Page updated 11 December 2023

Celebrating Retirement

UCD wishes to ensure that the contributions of its employees are recognised and celebrated. Retirement is an important part of the employee lifecycle and the guidelines below aim to set expectations and provide the basis for a consistent approach to retirement events for all categories of employees across the University.

There are two elements to marking retirements:

• Annual UCD Retirement Celebration, organised by Culture & Engagement and hosted by the President, marking the retirements in the preceding calendar year
• Local retirement reception (where agreed by the retiree)

These guidelines, which commence operation on 1 January 2024,  apply to employees finishing their careers with UCD either through normal or early retirement. These guidelines do not cover those resigning/leaving at the end of a contract.

University Level Acknowledgement

The Annual UCD Retirement Celebration, held in the first quarter of the year, provides an occasion to honour UCD employees who retired in the previous calendar year. This is an opportunity to welcome back colleagues and strengthen their connection to the UCD community. The Retirement Celebration is not intended to replace any celebrations that might happen locally at College/School/unit level.

Format of the Annual UCD Retirement Celebration

• The celebration is held on the Belfield campus hosted by the President, with retirees given the option to bring a guest.
• The President (or UMT member) makes a short speech marking the occasion and honouring their colleagues' service to the University.
• Light refreshments are provided.

Learn more about the roles and responsibilities in the Guidelines for marking employee retirement.

Local Retirement Celebrations

Upon the retirement of a team member, their College/School/Unit is encouraged to organise a local retirement celebration in line with the wishes of the retiree (i.e. some employees may not wish for their retirement to be acknowledged). There is no minimum service requirement for local retirement celebrations. Such events should be held at a time that is convenient for all parties and not necessarily on the date of retirement.

Local celebrations, where held, are in addition to the annual UCD Retirement Celebration.

In the Guidelines for marking employee retirement you will find suggestions in relation to local celebrations covering the celebration format, expenditure, gifts and refreshments.

Retirement Communications

All-staff emails: Please note all-staff emails, including those seeking donations, will no longer be issued centrally by Culture & Engagement to the entire University. Where a collection is decided upon, the request for a donation should be issued by the organising unit locally.

Staff e-zine: Where a school or unit feels it is appropriate, notice of a retirement may be featured in the staff e-zine. Requests of that nature should be submitted via the same process as other ezine submissions.

Retirement

For details on the topic of retirement more generally, please visit the Pensions section of the HR website.