Hire in Ireland

The law specifies that contracts of employment must contain certain terms and conditions which must be provided in written form. Under no circumstances should the terms of the employment contract provide for lesser conditions than any minimum legal entitlements established in Ireland’s employment legislation or by applicable collective agreement.

Probationary periods must not exceed 6 months. Any extension of such periods must not exceed 12 months and should be in the interest of the employee.

• The Organization of Working Time Act 1997 states the maximum average working week for many employees cannot exceed 48 hours. This does not mean a working week can never exceed 48 hours. Rather, it is the average that is important. For most employees the average can be calculated over a period of four months.
• A typical working week is considered to be between 35 and 40 hours, with the average in Ireland being 39 hours per week.

• If not already included in the rate of pay, an employee usually has a right to paid time off in lieu or a premium payment for work performed on Sunday.
• An employee is entitled to the premium payment for Sunday work, which should be equivalent to the payment a comparable employee in a collective agreement in force in a similar industry or sector would receive. This means the Sunday premium, if not already paid, will be equivalent to the closest applicable collective agreement which applies to the same or similar work under similar circumstances (and which provides for a Sunday premium).

Overtime is work performed outside normal working hours. Employers have no statutory requirement to pay employees for work completed in overtime. However, many employers offer higher rates of compensation for overtime. The contract of employment should state whether employees can be required to work overtime and should specify the rates of pay.

• Bonuses can be guaranteed under contract, discretionary or a combination of the two. The details of any bonus scheme should be clearly specified in the terms of the employment contract. When bonus schemes are incorporated into the employees’ contract of employment, they become terms or conditions of that employment and employees will have certain expectations. Failure to comply with a term in a contract may be found to be an unlawful action. In this case, the law provides for recourse.
• An employment contract may contain a clause stating that a contractual bonus will not be paid if employment is terminated ‘for cause.’ This includes alleged gross misconduct or if an employee is not engaged in employment on the date of payment. Most bonus schemes will state that the employers allow themselves the discretion to decide who would be eligible for a bonus, the amount payable and whether to pay any bonuses at all in a particular year. It is an implied term of any bonus scheme which is subject to an employer’s discretion must not be exercised in a manner that is irrational or perverse.
• If an employer offers a contractual bonus scheme (e.g. one guaranteed under contract), any modifications to that scheme should be made through a formal process of consultation and agreement. If an employer offers a discretionary bonus scheme, it is more likely they can change the scheme without consulting employees. To label a scheme discretionary – and then ensure that it is discretionary in practice – informs employees that the provisions may not be provided in the same way, or at all, throughout their employment. If there was cause for amending the scheme, an employer may simply exercise this discretion and then inform employees of the change. However, changes to contractual schemes require prior agreement between employer and employee.

Employers are not required to give notice if any of the following apply:

• The employee has been working for the employer for less than 13 weeks.
• The employee agrees to waive his or her right to notice.
• The employee is guilty of gross misconduct.

​In order to justify a dismissal, the employer must:

• show the dismissal was in relation to at least one of the potentially fair grounds set out in the legislation.
• demonstrate that fair procedures were followed.
• be able to disprove any allegation by the employee that the case involves any of the automatically unfair reasons for dismissal.

The employer can give one or more of the following reasons for dismissal:

• Capability – This includes events such as tardiness, absenteeism and persistent absence due to illness or injury (either short-term or long-term)
• Competence – This pertains to the employee’s ability to do their job. Initially, employees must be made aware of the standards that are expected and improvement should be managed through a formal set procedure within a reasonable timeframe. Ultimately, the employer should issue a final warning setting out the likelihood of dismissal before any actual dismissal.
• Qualifications – This type of dismissal is allowed for two reasons:
  • The employee misled the employer about qualifications they had when applying for the job.
  • The employer made employee’s continued employment conditional on them obtaining further qualifications and the employee failed to achieve this after having been given a reasonable opportunity to do so.

• Conduct – As a ground for fair dismissal, the term conduct covers a large area of behavior. There is a need to distinguish between gross misconduct, which can lead to instant dismissal, and ordinary instances of misconduct.
• Redundancy – In this case, the employer will need to show a redundancy situation exists and that therefore the dismissal is fair.
• Contravening the law – Employees can be dismissed if their continued employment would mean breaking the law.

Contractual post termination restraints are generally considered to be in restraint of trade and therefore void. However, those that protect the employer’s legitimate business interests can be enforced if reasonable. Restraints need to be tailored for the specific business and the risks posed by the employee. Garden leave is a common practice applied to senior employees.

Non-competes – This is permissible in narrow, justifiable circumstances. The typical duration is no longer than three to six months, with an absolute maximum of 12 months depending on the circumstances. The geographical area must also be reasonable and not too extensive.

Customer non-solicits – These are permissible in specific circumstances. The typical duration is no longer than three to six months, with an absolute maximum of 12 months depending on the circumstances. The geographical area must also be reasonable and not too extensive.

Employee non-solicits – These are permissible but the length of restriction will depend on the circumstances.

• An employee who is being made redundant is entitled to a statutory payment, conditional on them having at least 104 weeks of continuous service in employment insurable under the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 1993. They must also be over the age of 16 and in a genuine redundancy situation.
• The rate of statutory redundancy is two weeks’ pay for every year of service (for those over the age of 16) in addition to one week’s pay. This payment is limited to €600 per week. Statutory redundancy payments are exempt from tax. Any ex-gratia redundancy amount (above the legal minimum) is subject to taxation.
• If the employer company is liquidated and unable to pay the redundancy entitlements, redundant employees can seek payment from the Social Insurance Fund (maintained by the Department of Social Protection) for their statutory entitlements.
• Employees may benefit from enhanced redundancy sums by way of business customs, practices or industry norms. In practice, employers can negotiate an ex-gratia severance payment from between two to seven weeks’ pay per year of service. This may or may not be paid in addition to the statutory payment.
• In the public sector, the standard redundancy package (which is consistently recommended by the labor court) is for five weeks’ pay. This is inclusive of statutory entitlements (e.g. three weeks’ pay plus the statutory entitlement of two weeks’ pay).
• Trade unions are involved in redundancy negotiations at companies with collective bargaining. There is no legal requirement to negotiate with trade unions in respect of redundancy pay. However, the practice at unionized firms is that trade unions are involved during any such talks. Theoretically works councils can perform this function as well but they are not as prevalent a feature in this process as trade unions.

A fixed-term contract can be any of the following:

• for a fixed period and will end when a specific date is reached
• for the purposes of completing a specific task and will end once the task has been completed.
• for a specific event and will terminate once the event does or does not happen.

Fixed-term employees have the right not to be treated any less favorably than comparable employees on permanent contracts. Those who have been employed on successive fixed-term contracts (e.g. they have had the contract renewed previously or have been employed on more than one contract) for four continuous years can ask their employer for a statement confirming they are permanent and are no longer on a fixed-term contract.

Employers must issue this statement or one that gives objective reasons why the contract remains fixed-term within 21 days of an employee’s request. They can keep an employee on a fixed-term contract only if they can objectively justify it at the point it was last renewed to achieve a legitimate business aim or when the period of four years has been extended under either a collective or workplace agreement. The employer must make the same tax arrangements for fixed-term employees as for permanent staff.

Salaries are normally paid monthly on a regular date at the end of the month via credit transfer to an account specified by the employee.

All employees are entitled by law to a written statement of salary showing wages and deductions at the time of payment. This statement is called a ‘payslip.’ Employers also are prohibited from making deductions from wages unless authorized by law, an employment contract or employee consent. The Payment of Wages Act obliges the employer to treat the information contained in a pay statement with confidentiality. If wages are paid by credit transfer, the statement of wages should be given to the employee as soon as possible once the credit transfer has taken place.

• In 2019, the European Court of Justice stated companies must set up a system to record the working time of their employees. Hence, employers are required to implement an objective, reliable and accessible system that allows for the recording of the daily workday performed by each employee

• Employees are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave in addition to the nine paid public holidays. Annual leave is subject to the employer’s approval. With the agreement of both employer and employee unused leave may be carried over into the following holiday year and should be used within six months.

If a fixed date public holiday occurs on a weekend, there is no legal requirement for the next working day to be a holiday. If this happens employees are entitled to one of the following:

• A paid day off in the same month as the public holiday
• An extra day of annual leave
• An extra day’s pay
• The closest church holiday to the public holiday as a paid day off

• Under the Sick Leave Act 2022, employees are entitled to statutory paid sick leaves every year. The entitlement is phased in over 4 years:
  • 2023 – 3 days
  • 2024 – 5 days
  • 2025 – 7 days
  • 2026 – 10 days

  Sick days can be taken as consecutive days or non-consecutive days.

  Sick pay is paid by employers at 70% of the employee’s normal pay up to a maximum of €110 a day. To be eligible for sick pay, the employee must work for the employer for at least 13 weeks and is certified by a GP as unable to work.

• Maternity Leave
  • Employees that become pregnant are entitled to take maternity leave. The entitlement to a basic period of maternity leave from employment extends to all female employees in Ireland (including casual workers), regardless of how long they have been working for the organization or the number of hours worked per week. In general, employees are entitled to 26 weeks’ maternity leave. 2 weeks’ maternity leave must be taken before the baby is due, and at least 4 weeks after the baby is born.
  • Employees with sufficient social insurance (PRSI) contributions are entitled to paid Maternity Benefit at €245 per week. Mothers are entitled to a further 16 weeks additional maternity leave which begins immediately after the end of maternity leave; however, this is not covered by Maternity Benefit.
  • Female employees who are breastfeeding are entitled to take 1 hour off work (with pay) each day as a breastfeeding break for up to 2 years after birth.

  Paternity Leave

  • New parents (other than the mother of the child) are entitled to 2 weeks paternity leave from employment following birth or adoption of a child. Paternity leave can be started at any time within the first 6 months following the birth or adoption placement. Paternity Benefit is paid at a rate of €245 per week.

• Parent’s Leave
  • Each working parent is entitled to seven weeks of paid leave in the first 2 years of a child’s life (within 2 years of adoption). This benefit is paid for by the state if the parent has sufficient social insurance (PRSI) contributions.

  Parental Leave

  • Parental leave allows parents with children below 12 years old to take unpaid leave from work. Each parent can take up to 26 weeks’ parental leave for each eligible child. The employee must have worked for the employer for at least a year before they are entitled to this leave.

• Carer’s leave allows employees to leave work temporarily to provide full-time care and attention for someone who needs it.
• Carer’s leave can be taken for a minimum of 13 weeks and up to a maximum of 104 weeks for each person in the employer’s care. If the employee asks to take less than 13 weeks’ carer’s leave, the employer may refuse the request or may be open to agree to arrangements. The employee and the employer must agree to a plan in writing, clearly stating the date when the employee will start the leave and when they will return to work. The employee will need to contact the PRSI records section in the DEASP to ensure their social insurance record is kept up during this leave.
• The employee is entitled to annual leave and public holidays for the first 13 weeks of carer’s leave.
• When one carer’s leave has finished, the employee must wait six months before another period of carer’s leave can be taken to care for a different person.
• Carer’s leave from employment is unpaid but the employee’s job will be kept open for when they return. As the employer does not pay while the employee is on carer’s leave, if the employee has enough Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions, they can apply for ‘Carer’s Benefit.’ If the employee does not have enough PRSI contributions, they can apply for a means-tested ‘Carer’s Allowance’.
• While on carer’s leave, the employee can work up to 18.5 hours a week in employment or self-employment – so long as they earn less than €332.50 a week. (This calculation is the take-home pay after deductions including taxes, PRSI and union dues.) Alternatively, they can attend an educational or training course or do voluntary work for a maximum of 18.5 hours a week.

1. Force majeure leave – If an employee has a family crisis the Parental Leave Acts 1998 and 2019 grant the employee a limited right to leave from work. This is known as force majeure leave. It arises where, for urgent family reasons, the immediate presence of the employee is indispensable. This applies to an injury or illness of a close family member. The employee must notify the employer as soon as practicably possible about the need to avail of force majeure leave. Immediately on return to work, the employee must make a written application to the employer.

• • The maximum allowance for leave is three days in any 12-month period or five days in a 36-month period. The employee is entitled to be paid while on force majeure leave. The employer can grant further leave at their discretion. The employee is protected against unfair dismissal for taking force majeure leave or proposing to take it.
  • Force majeure leave does not offer any entitlement to leave following the death of a close family member.

2. Compassionate leave – If a close family member dies, an employee is not entitled to force majeure leave. However, he or she may be able to take compassionate leave. This will depend on the employment contract, the customs and the practices within the workplace or it will be left to the employer’s discretion.
3. Leave for medical care purposes – All employees will be entitled to 5 days of unpaid leave per year if they need to offer personal care or support to a family member or person they live with who is in need of significant care or help for a serious medical reason. There is no minimum service requirement for this leave.