In Ireland, the annual leave or holiday entitlements are outlined both in a person’s employment contract and national legislation. Whether you work on a full-time or part-time basis, you have a series of entitlements to leave from work.
The level of leave that is outlined in legislation is a minimum statutory requirement. Your contract of employment may permit a more significant amount.
In most cases, part-time employees are protected by legislation and allowed a certain amount of leave. For example, the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, ensures that employees receive Annual Leave. The Protection of Employees (Part-Time) Work Act of 2001 provides that part-time workers are covered.
However, those who don’t work full-time receive leave entitlements on a pro-rata basis. This means they have to calculate their level of leave. We show you how to do that in this article, and also outline the types of leave that Irish employees are guaranteed.
Table of contents (skip to section)
Holiday Entitlements in Ireland
Public Holiday Entitlements
What if I lose my job?
How to calculate holiday entitlement for part-time?
What’s the difference between holiday pay and annual leave
Holiday Entitlements in Ireland
The 1997 Act ensures that all full-time employees must receive one of the following entitlements regarding Annual Leave:
- Four working weeks where the employee has worked at least 1,365 hours in the year of leave.
- One-third of a working week where the employee works a minimum of 117 hours in a calendar month.
- A total of 8% of the hours worked during the year of leave.
Overall, you can use whichever of these methods provides you with the largest entitlement up to a maximum of four working weeks in a year. If you work five days a week, this means you get at least 20 days of leave in a year. For those who work six days a week, it results in 24 days off.
Also, a company must grant annual leave within 18 months of eligibility. If an employee couldn’t take annual leave because of illness, they benefit from a 15-month carryover period after a leave year.
If you fall ill during annual leave, get a medical certificate from a licensed physician to cover the days you were sick. By doing this, you ensure that the days you were ill don’t count as annual leave. Other types of leave available to employees in Ireland include:
- Maternity Leave
- Paternity Leave
- Public Holidays
- Carer’s Leave
- Parental Leave
- Adoptive Leave
- Sick Leave
Public Holiday Entitlements
In Ireland, there are nine public holidays each year, and they are often referred to as Bank Holidays. On these days, schools and a variety of businesses close. According to the 1997 Act, paid leave on public holidays is an entitlement.
The above applies to part-time employees who usually work on the day in question, barring those who haven’t worked for a minimum of 40 hours in the five weeks prior to the public holiday. If you typically work on the day of the public holiday, you should receive an extra day’s wages. Otherwise, you get 20% of your weekly pay added to your salary.
Here are the public holidays and dates (if available):
- New Year’s Day: January 1
- Saint Patrick’s Day: March 17
- Easter Monday
- The First Monday in May, June, and August
- The Final Monday in October
- Christmas Day: December 25
- Saint Stephen’s Day: December 26
Please note that Good Friday doesn’t count as a public holiday.
What if I Lose My Job?
If your work ends during the week that ends on the day prior to a public holiday, AND you have been employed by the company for at least the previous four weeks, you should get an extra day’s pay for the holiday.
This rule includes part-time employees who have worked for a minimum of 40 hours in the previous five weeks.
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How do You Calculate Holiday Entitlement for Part-Time?
In general, part-time workers use the 8% of hours worked option to determine their holiday entitlement.
Let’s say you work part-time four days a week and four hours a day. This means your average week involves 16 hours of work. Across an entire year, it means you get 836 hours of annual leave (52 x 16). The next step is to determine what 8% of 836 is:
836 x 0.08 = 66.88
As your working day is four hours, it means you receive the following in annual leave:
66.88 / 4 = 16.72
This means you get 17 days (if rounded up) of annual leave each year.
How to Calculate Holiday Pay?
If you are part-time and meet the criteria mentioned above, you are entitled to a certain level of public holiday entitlement. In Ireland, you must receive one of the these options:
- An additional day’s pay.
- An additional day’s annual leave.
- A paid day off within the month.
- A day off on the holiday with pay.
Your employer has the chance to choose any one of the above, but they must select one.
If you work part-time, and are typically required to work on the day of the public holiday, you receive a day’s pay according to your regular daily hours before the holiday. Therefore, if you earn €14 an hour and usually work five hours a day, your holiday pay for that particular Public Holiday is €70.
If you don’t typically work on the date that the holiday falls, you receive 20% of your average weekly pay calculated over the previous 13 weeks. Let’s say your average weekly wage is €270 during this timeframe. It means you would receive 270 x 0.2 = €54 in holiday pay.
What’s the Difference Between Holiday Pay and Annual Leave?
The main similarity is that both relate to time off work. However, Annual Leave refers to the paid time off work that you receive when a company employs you. It is a statutory requirement received by part-time and full-time staff.
Holiday pay, on the other hand, tends to refer to payment for work completed during a Public Holiday.
If you don’t receive what you’re entitled to regarding public holidays, you can complain according to the Organisation of Working Time Act legislation. However, you must do so within six months of the incident occurring.
What should I do next?
- Read about Maternity Leave
- Learn about Paternity Leave
Gillian Knight is the MD of Kala Management Solutions and has extensive experience within the field of HR. She has assisted thousands of people write job winning CVs as well providing one to one interview coaching to job seekers.