Hiring Talent And Managing Payroll In Ireland

Agreements

• It is a statutory requirement to establish a written statement of terms of employment.
• Both parties should finalize and sign it within the first five days of starting a new job.
• It is a preliminary agreement including the only core terms of employment, such as:

  • Full name of the parties
  • Address of the parties
  • Place of work
  • Date of Employment
  • Job title and nature of the job
  • Working hours and overtime
  • Payroll period

Onboarding Process

• The onboarding process usually takes two days, and if non-Irish nationals are involved, then it might take extra three days.
• Within one month of joining the organization, the employer/organization is bound to present a detailed agreement containing basic terms of employment (as mentioned before) and other important classes:

  • Pay intervals- weekly or monthly
  • Paid leaves, public holidays, and sick leaves
  • Pension schemes applicable
  • Notice period
  • On job training
  • Details of any third party's involvement
  • Nature and Pattern of work
  • Social security contribution

Minimum Wage

Payroll Cycle

• There is no mandated payroll cycle in Ireland.
• The employment agreement between the parties determines the payroll cycle.
• The market practice is usually a weekly or monthly cycle.

Annual Bonus

• There is no statutory requirement or market practice for providing bonuses.
• It is usually mentioned in the employment agreement beforehand.

Health Benefits

• In Ireland, health benefits are available for both ordinary residents and certain working visitors.
• The health benefits are either available free of cost or at a reduced price.
• A medical card is available for the workers, which includes:

  • General Physician services
  • Drugs and medicine
  • Dental and optical facility
  • maternity and infant care
  • community care
  • personal nursing facility.
• The medical card may provide free services or services at a reduced cost.

Working hours and overtime

• Work hours: the average working hours in Ireland are 48 hours per week. It does not include leaves (paid or unpaid).
• Break: there is no statutory requirement regarding breaks, but a healthy workplace habit is around 45 minutes to 1 hour per day.
• Overtime: Overtime in Ireland is defined as any work done outside the regular work hour.

Social Security

Taxes for Employees

Termination

• In Ireland, termination of employment needs to be supported with a valid reason; otherwise, it will be termed unfair dismissal.

  Some of the reasonable reasons for termination are:

  • Voluntary resignation
  • Mutual termination
  • Expiration of probation period
  • Disciplinary action against the employee
  • unsatisfactory performance of the employee
  • Physical or mental capabilities
  • Expiration of work permit
• The notice period in Ireland varies as per the duration of the employment:

  Duration of the employment	Notice Period
  13 weeks - 2 years	1 week
  2 years - 5 years	2 weeks
  5 years - 10 years	4 weeks
  10 years - 15 years	6 weeks
  15 years and above	8 weeks

Severance Pay

• The severance pay in Ireland is the amount equivalent to two weeks of payment- a statutory requirement.
• Market practice is to add another week to the severance pay.

Employees or Contractors

• In Ireland, it is essential to rightly classify the employment type- whether a full-time employee or a contractor.
• The distinction between the employee and the contractor is crucial to determine social insurance contributions.
• The contractor has minimal statutory rights. Their services can be terminated at any time. Also, there is no maximum duration of their engagement.
• Employers (full-time, part-time) have rights during their employment. They also have protection against unfair dismissal and access to the right wages and benefits.
• Any misclassification between employment will invite a heavy penalty of 250,000 Euros and ten years of jail time.

Final Words