Hire Employees in Ireland: 2026 EOR, Payroll and Employment Guide

An Irish private company limited by shares can be incorporated in about a week, but a non-EEA-resident director requires either an EEA-resident director or a Section 137 bond. Registration with Revenue as an employer follows.

An EOR avoids both and gets to payroll in one to two weeks.

EOR to start; entity once Ireland becomes a real base, which for many companies happens fast given the tax and talent case.

Contractors face the Karshan test, which the Supreme Court set out in 2023: mutuality of obligation, control, and whether the person is genuinely in business on their own account. Revenue has pursued reclassifications aggressively since.

The minimum wage rose to €14.15 an hour on 1 January 2026, up 65c, for workers aged 20 and over.

The threshold separating the 9% and 11.25% employer PRSI rates rose from €527 to €552 a week at the same time, deliberately tracking the minimum wage so a full-time worker on it stays in the lower band.

Auto-enrolment began on 1 January 2026. My Future Fund requires employers to enrol employees aged 23 to 60 earning over €20,000 who are not already in an occupational scheme. Contributions start at 1.5% from each side, with the State adding 0.5% for every euro the employee puts in. Rates step up over the following years, so this is a cost that grows.

Note the mid-year change: both PRSI rates rise 0.15 points on 1 October 2026 under the agreed PRSI Roadmap.

Four representative profiles at the 2026 rates. Salaries are illustrative market midpoints, not GX operating data. The percentage is identical for all four because employer PRSI has no ceiling — the opposite of Germany or Spain, where cost falls away as salary rises. For real market data on your roles, ask for a costing.

PAYE Modernisation means a payroll submission to Revenue on or before every pay date — not monthly in arrears. Late or missing submissions are visible to Revenue immediately.

Employees pay income tax at 20% up to the standard rate cut-off and 40% above it, plus USC in bands and PRSI at 4.2%, rising to 4.35% in October. The 2% USC ceiling rose to €28,700 to keep minimum-wage workers out of the higher bands.

Income tax at 20% to the standard rate cut-off and 40% above, plus USC in bands and PRSI at 4.2%, rising to 4.35% in October 2026.

The Special Assignee Relief Programme exempts 30% of employment income above €100,000 for qualifying inbound assignees for up to five years — worth checking before structuring a relocation package.

There is no single employment code. The Organisation of Working Time Act, the Unfair Dismissals Acts, the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, the Payment of Wages Act and the Minimum Notice Acts each govern a piece of the relationship.

The Workplace Relations Commission hears claims under all of them, without lawyers in most cases.

A written statement of five core terms is due within five days of starting, with fuller terms within a month. Failure to provide it is actionable in its own right.

Probation may run to six months, extendable to twelve only in limited circumstances. Unfair dismissal protection generally begins at twelve months of service, which is why probation length and the first year matter more in Ireland than in most European markets.

There is no statutory standard week — 39 hours is the common contractual norm. The binding limit is an average of 48 hours over a four-month reference period, under the Organisation of Working Time Act.

Employees are entitled to 11 consecutive hours of daily rest, a 24-hour weekly rest period, and a 15-minute break after four and a half hours. Employers must keep working-time records for three years, and the burden of proof sits with the employer where records are absent.

Four working weeks of paid annual leave — 20 days for a full-time employee — accrued at 8% of hours worked, capped at four weeks. Part-time and irregular-hours staff accrue on the same 8% basis, which is the cleanest method in this guide.

Leave must generally be taken within the leave year or the following six months, and cannot be paid in lieu except on termination.

Ten public holidays a year, including St Brigid’s Day on the first Monday in February, added in 2023 as Ireland’s first new public holiday in decades.

Employees who work a public holiday are entitled to one of: a paid day off, an additional day of annual leave, an extra day’s pay, or a paid day off within a month. Part-time employees qualify once they have worked 40 hours in the preceding five weeks.

Maternity: 26 weeks paid, funded by the State through Maternity Benefit rather than the employer, plus 16 further weeks unpaid. Many employers top the benefit up to full salary by contract, but none is obliged to.

Paternity: two weeks, also State-funded. Parent’s leave: nine weeks for each parent in the child’s first two years, again State-funded.

Statutory sick pay: five days a year at 70% of normal daily pay, capped at €110 a day, for employees with 13 weeks’ service. The Sick Leave Act set out a path to ten days, but the step beyond five was never commenced — several current sources wrongly state seven. Maximum statutory exposure is therefore €550 per employee per year.

Dismissal after twelve months’ service must be for fair grounds and follow fair procedure — the procedure is scrutinised as closely as the reason. The Workplace Relations Commission hears claims, and awards run to two years’ remuneration.

Notice is statutory and rises with service: one week from thirteen weeks, two weeks from two years, up to eight weeks beyond fifteen years.

Statutory redundancy is two weeks’ pay per year of service plus one additional week, subject to a €600 weekly ceiling, for employees with two years’ service.

EU, EEA, Swiss and UK nationals need no permit. For others the Critical Skills Employment Permit is the usual route — no labour-market test for listed occupations, immediate family reunification, and a path to permanent residence after two years.

The General Employment Permit requires a labour-market needs test and takes longer. Allow six to twelve weeks either way.

The Workplace Relations Commission inspects and prosecutes. The recurring findings are missing written statements, working-time records, and contractor misclassification after Karshan.

Auto-enrolment is new in 2026 and non-enrolment of an eligible employee is the most likely first-year error — the obligation sits on the employer to identify who qualifies.

The Karshan five-step test asks whether there is a wage-work bargain, whether the employer exercises sufficient control, and whether the person is genuinely in business on their own account.

Answer for the Ireland-based person you currently pay on invoice. Indicative only — not legal advice.

The five-day statement of core terms is a hard deadline and actionable in its own right. Fuller written terms follow within a month.

Confirm before the offer: right to work, whether the role appears on the Critical Skills list if a permit is needed, and whether the employee is eligible for My Future Fund — aged 23 to 60, earning over €20,000, and not already in an occupational scheme.