Hiring in Ireland

Ireland's employment law draws from multiple statutes rather than a single labor code. The core laws include the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994-2014, the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015, and the Workplace Relations Act 2015. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) handles most first-instance employment disputes, with appeals going to the Labour Court. Employment contracts must be provided in writing within five days of starting work under the 2024 amendment to the Terms of Employment Act. Most employees are covered by these protections from day one, though some rights like unfair dismissal protection require a qualifying period.

Termination notice periods are set by the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973-2005 and scale with tenure. Employees with 13 weeks to 2 years of service get 1 week of notice. Those with 2-5 years get 2 weeks, 5-10 years get 4 weeks, 10-15 years get 6 weeks, and 15+ years get 8 weeks. Unfair dismissal claims require 12 months of continuous service, and compensation can reach up to 2 years' gross pay. Redundancy payments apply after 2 years of continuous service and equal 2 weeks' pay per year of service plus 1 additional week, subject to a weekly earnings cap of EUR 600.

Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, full-time employees earn 20 working days (4 weeks) of paid annual leave per year. Ireland has 10 public holidays, and employees who work on a public holiday are entitled to either a paid day off, an additional day of annual leave, an additional day's pay, or a paid day off within a month. The maximum working week averages 48 hours over a reference period of 4 months (extendable to 6 or 12 months by collective agreement). Employees are entitled to 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest.

Employer PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance) stands at 11.05%% for employees earning above EUR 441 per week, dropping to 8.8%% for lower earners. Employees pay 4%% PRSI on all earnings. The Universal Social Charge (USC) applies at progressive rates: 0.5%% on the first EUR 12,012, then 2%% up to EUR 25,760, 4%% up to EUR 70,044, and 8%% on the remainder. Income tax (PAYE) runs at 20%% on income up to EUR 42,000 for single filers and 40%% on income above that threshold. Employers handle all payroll deductions through Revenue's real-time PAYE system, reporting each payment as it occurs.

Ireland has no statutory right to overtime premium pay. The Organisation of Working Time Act does not mandate higher rates for overtime hours, though many sectors have overtime premiums set through collective agreements or employment contracts. In practice, rates of time-and-a-half for weekday overtime and double time for Sunday work are common across manufacturing, retail, and healthcare sectors. Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) in certain industries can set binding overtime rates.

Maternity leave runs 26 weeks at a State maternity benefit of EUR 274 per week (2024 rate), with an option to take 16 additional weeks unpaid. Parent's leave provides 7 weeks of paid leave (EUR 274/week) for each parent, available in the first two years of a child's life. Parental leave gives each parent 26 weeks of unpaid leave per child, available until the child turns 12. Paternity leave is 2 weeks at EUR 274/week. The Sick Leave Act 2022 introduced Statutory Sick Pay, which in 2024 provides 5 paid sick days per year at 70%% of gross wages, capped at EUR 110 per day. This will increase to 7 days in 2025 and 10 days in 2026.