How do Ireland working time and leave rules work in 2026?

The rules come from the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, section 15. The reference period for averaging the working week is normally 4 months. Certain sectors use a 6-month or 12-month reference period where collective agreements permit.

The 48 hours cap includes:

• Regular overtime required by the contract
• On-call time when the employee is actively working
• Travel between work sites (not commuting to and from home)

The cap excludes unpaid rest breaks and time spent on call but not actually working.

No opt-out in Ireland

Unlike the United Kingdom, Ireland does not permit individual employees to sign away the working-time cap. The 48 hours limit is a firm ceiling for every employee. Employers who need flexible peak-period cover must manage it through the reference-period averaging rules, not through individual waivers.

Senior executives and family employees who genuinely determine their own working time are exempt from the limit. These exemptions are narrow and closely scrutinised by the Workplace Relations Commission.

The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 sets these minimums. The 30-minute break can be taken as two separate 15-minute breaks if agreed with the employer. Whether breaks are paid is a contractual matter. The law only requires the breaks to be given.

Note: the Ireland cache does not include a statutory daily rest figure as a stored token. The 11-hour daily rest entitlement above comes from the Act itself, as referenced by the Workplace Relations Commission. It is consistent with the EU Working Time Directive minimum.

The 20 days comes from the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, section 19. The Act gives employees 4 working weeks of leave per year. For a standard 5-day worker that equals 20 days.

How public holidays work in Ireland

Ireland has 10 public holidays per year. These sit entirely outside the 20 days annual leave entitlement. A full-time employee working a 5-day week receives both:

• 20 days of personal annual leave, and
• 10 public holidays in addition.

This gives a combined total of 30 days off per year for a full-time employee, before any enhanced leave the employer chooses to offer.

Carry-over rules

Annual leave must normally be taken in the leave year in which it accrues. The leave year in Ireland runs from 1 April to 31 March unless the employer sets a different year by agreement. Unused leave can be carried over by agreement, or where illness prevented the employee from taking it. Where illness causes leave to be lost, employees have 15 months from the end of the leave year to take it.

Holiday pay calculation

Holiday pay must reflect normal pay. For employees with regular earnings it is the weekly pay rate. For employees with variable pay the reference period is the 13 weeks immediately before the leave. Commission and regular allowances count toward normal pay for leave purposes.

Part-time employees

Part-time employees accrue annual leave in proportion to hours worked. The Organisation of Working Time Act also gives part-timers a proportionate share of each public holiday.

1. Set the leave year

   Confirm whether your leave year runs 1 April to 31 March (the statutory default) or a different date agreed with employees. Every entitlement calculation anchors to this period.

2. Record annual leave and public holidays separately

   Ireland does not bundle public holidays into annual leave. Every full-time employee gets 20 days of personal annual leave plus the 10 public holidays on top. Track the two entitlements in separate columns so neither absorbs the other.

3. Calculate holiday pay on normal earnings

   Use the employee's weekly pay rate for those on regular earnings. For variable-pay employees, use the 13-week reference period immediately before the leave. Regular commissions and allowances count toward normal pay.

4. Manage the sick-pay entitlement from day 14 of service

   Once an employee has 13 weeks of continuous service, the Sick Leave Act 2022 entitlement activates. Pay sick leave at 70% of normal daily wage, capped at the daily maximum, for up to the statutory number of days in a rolling 12-month period. Require a medical certificate from day one of any absence claimed.

5. Handle carry-over and illness-related leave loss

   Annual leave must be taken in the leave year it accrues unless illness prevented it. Where illness caused leave to be lost, employees have 15 months from the end of that leave year to take it. Record any carry-over in writing.

6. Apply the 48-hour weekly cap without an opt-out

   The maximum average working week is 48 hours, averaged over a reference period of normally 4 months. Ireland has no individual opt-out. Manage peak-period demand through reference-period averaging, not employee waivers.

What employees receive on public holidays

Employees working on a public holiday are entitled to one of the following, at the employer's choice:

• A paid day off on the public holiday itself
• A paid day off within one month of the public holiday
• An additional day of annual leave
• An extra day's pay

Part-time employees are entitled to a proportion of a day's pay for each public holiday, based on their weekly hours. There is no requirement to pay premium rates for working on a public holiday. The four options above are the statutory entitlement.

Maternity leave and benefit

Maternity leave is governed by the Maternity Protection Act 1994 (as amended). The basic entitlement is 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. The employee may then take up to 16 weeks of additional unpaid leave.

During the paid period, State Maternity Benefit is paid by the Department of Social Protection directly to the employee at €299/week. The employer does not top up the benefit unless they choose to. Employees must have made sufficient PRSI contributions to qualify for the benefit.

• At least 2 weeks must be taken before the expected due date.
• At least 4 weeks must be taken after birth.
• The remaining weeks can be taken before or after birth within the overall entitlement.

Paternity leave and benefit

Paternity leave is 2 weeks, taken in the first 6 months after the birth or adoption. State Paternity Benefit is paid at €299/week for qualifying employees. The employer does not fund the benefit unless they choose to enhance it.

Unpaid parental leave

Each parent can take 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child, under the Parental Leave Acts 1998 to 2019. This leave can be taken up to the child's twelfth birthday (or later for children with a disability). It can be taken as a single continuous block or in shorter periods by agreement with the employer.

Parents' leave

Each parent is also entitled to 9 weeks of parents' leave (also called parent's benefit leave) in the first 2 years of the child's life or placement. This is separate from maternity and paternity leave. State Parents' Benefit is paid by the Department of Social Protection during this period. The rate is the same as Paternity Benefit.

What competitive Irish employers do

Many larger Irish employers in technology and professional services enhance maternity and paternity pay above the State Benefit rate. Common patterns include 12 to 26 weeks at full pay for maternity, and 2 to 4 weeks at full pay for paternity. Enhanced packages are contractual and negotiated, not required by law.

The Sick Leave Act 2022 introduced Ireland's first statutory employer-funded sick pay scheme. Before 2023 there was no statutory entitlement to sick pay in Ireland. The employer pays directly. This is not an insurance or social welfare payment.

How the entitlement works

• The employee must have completed 13 weeks of continuous service before they are entitled to sick pay.
• The employee must provide a medical certificate for any sick leave claimed.
• Sick pay is calculated at 70% of the employee's normal daily wage.
• The daily cap is €110. Pay above the cap is not covered by the employer obligation.
• The entitlement is 5 days in any rolling 12-month period.

The phased rollout and the 2025 pause

The Sick Leave Act 2022 was designed to increase the entitlement progressively to 10 days by 2026. However, the Government paused the expansion at 5 days in April 2025. The expansion beyond 5 days is currently suspended indefinitely. Employers should plan on 5 days as the operative figure for 2026.

What happens after the employer obligation ends

Once an employee has exhausted the 5 days statutory entitlement, the employer has no further sick pay obligation unless their contract provides more. Employees may then qualify for Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection, subject to sufficient PRSI contributions. Illness Benefit is a separate State payment and is not an employer cost.

Self-certification and medical certificates

A medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner is required from the first day of sick leave claimed under the Act. Employers cannot make employees self-certify for the first few days as in the UK system. Every statutory sick day requires a doctor's cert.

Real HR and legal experts manage Ireland working-time obligations on your behalf. That covers the working hours cap, the separate leave and holiday entitlements, statutory sick pay under the Sick Leave Act 2022, and family leave notifications to the Department of Social Protection. An actual person owns your account, not a chatbot or a pooled queue. There is no setup fee and no exit fee. Every employer cost passes through at cost, itemised on every invoice.

PRSI, income tax, and the new auto-enrolment pension (launched September 2025) all run through one platform. You see the full cost before you commit. Run the employer-cost calculator to model the real annual cost of an Ireland hire including PRSI, sick pay days, and leave accrual. Start from the Ireland hiring overview.

Key sources: WRC: Working Hours guidance, Citizens Information: Sick Leave and Sick Pay, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.