Employment Rights in Ireland

 

Minimum Wage-

The minimum wage for experienced adults in Ireland is €8.65 per hour. An experienced adult is anyone over the age of 18 who has been in any employment for two or more years. The two years employment does not have to have been with the same employer or have taken place in Ireland.

 

Working hours-

Employees should not work for more than 48 hours in one week.

Employees are entitled to:-

·         a 15 minute break when working four and a half hours or more; and a 30 minute break when working six hours or more. 

·         at least one 24 hour rest period during a 7 day period and have at least 11 hours rest between one day’s work and the next.

 

Terms of Employment-

All employees should receive a written contract of their terms of employment within 2 months of starting their job. The information should include the name and address of the employer, the job title and nature of the work, the rate of pay, hours of work and the number of day’s annual leave.

 

Pay slips-

Employees should receive a written statement outlining their gross pay and any deductions that have been made, examples of deductions include income tax and PRSI.

 

Holidays -

Full-time employees are entitled to 4 working weeks paid annual leave per year. In addition there are 9 public holiday days throughout the year which employees must have free or else be given an extra day’s pay.

 

Discrimination-

Discrimination in the work place is prohibited under Irish law. If a person feels they have been discriminated against on the grounds of race, religion, gender, family status, marital status, age, disability, sexual orientation or membership of the Travelling Community they can make a complaint to the Equality Tribunal.

 

Maternity Leave-

All pregnant women in employment are entitled to 26 weeks paid leave from work which must start at least 2 weeks before their due date. There is also the option of taking a further 16 weeks unpaid maternity leave.

 

To find out more about Employment Rights see the

National Employment Rights Authority (NERA), the Equality Authority’s website or the Citizen’s Information Website.