Annual Leave Entitlement in Ireland

Every employee in Ireland is entitled to paid annual leave from the day they start — no minimum service, no probation exclusion, full-time or part-time. This guide covers the statutory minimum, the three ways to calculate it, and the places employers most often get caught out.

The statutory minimum: four working weeks

Under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, the minimum is four working weeks of paid annual leave per leave year. For someone on a standard five-day week that means 20 days. For someone working four days a week, a "working week" is four days — so the entitlement is 16 days, not 20.

That is a floor, not a target. Many Irish employers offer 21–25 days to stay competitive, and anything above the statutory minimum is a matter of contract.

The three calculation methods

The Act gives three methods. An employee is entitled to whichever produces the greatest result:

In practice most payroll systems apply the 8% rule to variable-hours staff and the flat four weeks to salaried staff. The obligation to give the greater amount sits with the employer, so it is worth spot-checking anyone whose hours changed materially during the year.

When does the leave year run?

The Act defines the leave year as 1 April to 31 March. Many Irish employers instead run it on the calendar year, which is permitted — but whichever you use should be stated in the contract and applied consistently. Mixing the two is where carry-over disputes start.

Public holidays are on top

Ireland's ten public holidays are separate from annual leave, not part of it. So a full-time employee on the statutory minimum receives 20 days of annual leave plus public holiday entitlement. Advertising a role as "20 days including bank holidays" does not meet the statutory minimum.

Carry-over, payment in lieu and leaving

• Carry-over: statutory leave should normally be taken within the leave year, or within six months after it by agreement.
• Long-term illness: leave that could not be taken due to certified illness can be carried forward for up to 15 months after the end of the leave year.
• Payment in lieu: you cannot pay an employee instead of giving statutory leave while they are employed. The only time payment in lieu is permitted is on termination.
• On leaving: untaken accrued leave must be paid out in the final payslip.

Who decides when leave is taken

The employer decides, but not unilaterally. You must take the employee's family responsibilities and their opportunities for rest into account, and consult the employee (or their union) at least one month before the leave is to be taken. In practice a clear request-and-approval process covers this — which is exactly what a leave system is for.

The record-keeping obligation

Employers must keep working time and leave records for three years. A WRC inspector can ask for them, and the penalty for not having them falls on the employer regardless of whether the underlying entitlement was met. Spreadsheets tend to fail this test — not because they are wrong, but because nobody can reconstruct who approved what, and when.

Frequently asked questions