National Minimum Wage

From 1 January 2022, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) thresholds were raised in Ireland It is a legal requirement to pay workers – whether full­ or part­time, temporary, casual, or seasonal workers – the NMW For example, for an adult of 20+ the rate is now €10 50 per hour

The rates are regularly updated as the legislation changes The Workplace Relations Commission National Minimum Wage webpage is a good place to check for the latest rates and other parts of the legislation relating to pay and allowable deductions from employees through the PAYE system Note that there are certain sectors of workers in Ireland to whom separate minimum pay bands apply

Rest assured, Outbooks is well­versed in the employment legislation and labour laws in Ireland It is our professional duty and responsibility to keep abreast and know about and be ready to action any of the updates and changes

Tips and gratuities

Rules governing tips and gratuities most commonly effect people who work in specific sectors such as hospitality, tourism, hairdressing, taxi/delivery. From 1 December 2022, an amendment to Payment of Wages (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022 introduced new rules about employees’ share of tips, gratuities and service charges The amendment makes it illegal for employers to use tips or gratuities to form part of the basic wages of employees For more on this subject see here

Working hours

The Organisation of Working Time Act (1997, amended in 2015) relates to the maximum number of hours an employee should work in an average working week, which is currently 48 hours (although the national average in Ireland is 49 hours) Generally, office hours run 9:00 a m to 5:30 p m with an hour for lunch (between noon and 2 p m ) There is a dedicated webpage for Working hours and breaks on the Workplace Relations Commission website

Overtime

This same Act provides some detail about work carried out on a Sunday –the ‘Sunday Premium’ –and the sort of compensation employees might expect, whether a raised rate of pay or paid time off from work in lieu These sorts of points of working hours should form part of the employer’s terms and conditions of employment or contract But there is no statutory obligation for employers to compensate employees for overtime

Public holidays

In Ireland, there are currently ten public holidays per year From 2023, a new public holiday will apply on the first Monday in February and then each first day of February thereafter, except where this day in February falls on a Friday in which case that Friday 1st February will be the public holiday

A table of all public holidays in Ireland are set out on the Workplace Relations website Public Holidays webpage