Republic of Ireland

• New Year’s Day
• St Brigid’s Day
• St Patrick’s Day
• Easter Monday
• May Bank Holiday
• June Bank Holiday
• August Bank Holiday
• October Bank Holiday
• Christmas Day
• St Stephen’s Day.

Working Hours

The maximum an employee should work in an average working week is 48 hours.  This working week average should be calculated over a four-month period.

Minimum Wage

As of 1st January 2024, the national minimum wage in Ireland is based on age and as follows:

• Aged 20+: 12.70 EUR.
• Aged 19: 11.43 EUR.
• Aged 18: 10.16 EUR.
• Aged under 18: 8.89 EUR.

Employee Tax

Annual income	Tax rate*
Up to EUR 40,000	20%
More than EUR 40,000	40%
Pay-related social insurance (PRSI)**	4%
Universal social charge (USC)***	0% - 11%

*Based on a single person’s income. Tax bands may be different for married couples filing jointly.

**Only applicable to employees earning more than EUR 352 per week.

***Actual rate depends on the employee's salary.

Bonuses

Irish employers must pay social insurance (PRSI) contributions on any remuneration paid to employees, including taxable benefits in kind. There is no income ceiling.

The rate for private sector employers’ PRSI contributions is 11.05% for 2023.

Irish employers must provide employees with a written statement containing five core terms of employment, within five days of commencing employment. This is not an obligation to provide a written contract, but most employers comply by providing a written contract.

The following core particulars must be contained in the written statement:

• Names of the employer and employee.
• Address of the employer.
• Expected duration of temporary employment or the end date of a fixed-term contract.
• Method of calculating pay and pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
• Number of hours the employer reasonably expects the employee to work per working day and per normal working week.

Fixed term contracts are allowed, but cannot exceed two consecutive contracts. These cannot exceed a total of four years.

Annual Leave

Employees in Ireland are entitled to four working weeks of leave per year in which they work at least 1,365 hours, or one-third of a working week for each month in which they work at least 117 hours.

Sick Leave

Employees in Ireland are entitled to a minimum of 3 days of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from the employer.  This will increase as follows:

• 2024: minimum of 5 days of SSP paid by employer;
• 2025: minimum of 7 days SSP paid by employer;
• 2026: minimum of 10 days SSP paid by employer.

Parental Leave

Maternity leave: Ireland offers 26 weeks’ paid leave, together with 16 weeks’ additional unpaid maternity leave.

At least two weeks must be taken before the end of the week of the baby’s expected birth and at least four weeks after.

Paternity leave: employees are entitled to two week's leave.

Parental leave: parents are entitled to take up to 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave for each child under 12 years' old.

Termination Process

Employers in Ireland must justify dismissal by:

• Showing that the dismissal was connected with one or more of the fair grounds set out in the legislation
• Showing that fair procedures were followed and that they acted fairly
• Disproving any allegation by the employee that their case involves any of the automatically unfair reasons for dismissal.

Severance Pay

In Ireland, a contract may provide for a severance payment in the event of a termination by consent.  Most employers require the employee whose contract is being voluntarily terminated to sign a severance agreement relinquishing the right to take any future legal action against their employer.  Severance packages are distinct from redundancy situations.

Any employee aged 16 or over with 104 weeks’ continuous service with an employer is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment in the event of being made redundant.

Under a Mauve Group Employer of Record solution, clients and workers can reap the benefits of Mauve’s Global Master Insurance Programme – a market-leading unified corporate insurance programme that connects all Mauve entities to its two preferred providers.

The insurance provides coverage in overseas locations through a combination of the master policy and its linked local policies, where required by law in certain jurisdictions.  The policies include:

• Employer’s Liability and Public Liability - £10,000,000 combined limit.
• Professional Indemnity - £5,000,000 limit.
• Worker’s Compensation – Limit is dependent on location of work.

For specific information about statutory and recommended insurances in your chosen country, get in touch with Mauve.