Annual leave in Ireland: the complete guide

Most employees in Ireland are entitled to 4 working weeks of paid annual leave a year. This is set by the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. How much leave someone has actually earned depends on the hours they worked, using one of three methods, and they get whichever gives the most. Public holidays are a separate entitlement: there are 10 a year.

This guide follows Citizens Information and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). It is general information, not legal advice. Your contracts may give more than the legal minimum, and when they do, the contract applies.

How much annual leave are employees entitled to?

The statutory entitlement is 4 working weeks a year. It applies to all employees: full-time, part-time, temporary and casual.

A working week is the number of days someone usually works in a week. If a person usually works 3 days of 10 hours, their annual leave week is 3 days, or 30 hours, and their 4 weeks is 12 days.

An employer can give more than this. Any extra should be in the employee's written terms of employment.

How is annual leave calculated in Ireland?

There are three methods. Use whichever gives the employee the greatest entitlement, up to a maximum of 4 working weeks.

Method	How it works
1. Hours in the year	4 working weeks for a leave year in which they work at least 1,365 hours. Not available in a year when they change employment.
2. Months worked	1/3 of a working week for each calendar month in which they work at least 117 hours.
3. Percentage of hours	8% of the hours worked in the leave year, up to 4 working weeks.

Hours spent on annual leave, certified sick leave, maternity leave, parental leave, force majeure leave, adoptive leave and the first 13 weeks of carer's leave all count as hours worked in these calculations.

When does the leave year run?

The statutory leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Many employers use the calendar year instead, which is fine: it doesn't change anyone's statutory entitlement.

How does annual leave work for part-time staff?

Part-time employees' leave is generally worked out with method 3: 8% of the hours they work, up to 4 working weeks. Someone who works 20 hours a week for a full leave year works 1,040 hours. 8% of that is 83.2 hours, but the maximum is 4 working weeks, which for them is 80 hours, so they get 80.

If someone works full time for some months and part time for the rest of the year, calculate the two periods separately.

Work it out for one person. The free Irish annual leave calculator runs all three methods and shows which one gives the most.

How is holiday pay worked out?

Holiday pay must be paid in advance, at the employee's normal weekly rate. Where pay changes from week to week, for example because of commission or bonuses, holiday pay is the average of their pay over the 13 weeks before the holiday.

Who decides when annual leave is taken?

The employer decides when leave is taken, with some conditions. The employer must:

• take account of the employee's family responsibilities and the opportunities they have for rest and recreation;
• consult the employee, or their union, at least one month before the leave.

An employee who has worked for at least 8 months is entitled to an unbroken 2 weeks of annual leave.

Can annual leave be carried over?

Annual leave should be taken within the leave year. With the employer's agreement, it can be taken within 6 months after the leave year ends. Carrying it over any further has to be agreed between employer and employee.

Illness is treated differently. Annual leave keeps building up during certified sick leave. If someone can't take their leave because they are ill, they can carry it over for up to 15 months after the end of the leave year it was earned in. If they leave within those 15 months, they are paid for it.

If someone is sick during their annual leave and has a medical certificate for those days, the certified sick days don't count as annual leave. They take that leave later.

Does annual leave build up during other leave?

Yes. Employees keep building up annual leave while on annual leave, certified sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, parent's leave, parental leave, adoptive leave, force majeure leave and the first 13 weeks of carer's leave.

Leave does not build up during a lay-off, but employees keep the leave they built up before it.

How do public holidays work in Ireland?

There are 10 public holidays a year. Good Friday is not a public holiday, so there is no automatic right to time off that day.

Public holiday	2026	2027
New Year's Day	1 January	1 January
St Brigid's Day holiday (first Monday in February, or 1 February if it is a Friday)	2 February	1 February
Saint Patrick's Day	17 March	17 March
Easter Monday	6 April	29 March
First Monday in May	4 May	3 May
First Monday in June	1 June	7 June
First Monday in August	3 August	2 August
Last Monday in October	26 October	25 October
Christmas Day	25 December	25 December
Saint Stephen's Day	26 December	26 December

For each public holiday, an employee who qualifies is entitled to one of these:

1. a paid day off on the public holiday;
2. an extra day of annual leave;
3. an extra day's pay;
4. a paid day off within a month of the public holiday.

The employee can ask, at least 21 days before the public holiday, which one will apply. If the employer doesn't answer at least 14 days before, the employee is entitled to the day itself as a paid day off.

Who qualifies. Full-time employees qualify straight away. Part-time employees qualify once they have worked at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday, and annual leave counts towards those 40 hours. A qualifying part-time employee who doesn't normally work on that day still gets one-fifth of their weekly pay for it.

When a public holiday falls on a weekend, or on another day the business doesn't normally open, employees are still entitled to the benefit, but not automatically to the next working day off.

What happens to annual leave when someone leaves?

They must be paid for any annual leave they haven't taken. This is the only time an employer may pay instead of giving statutory leave.

If employment ends in the week before a public holiday, an employee who worked for the employer during the previous 4 weeks is entitled to an extra day's pay for that public holiday. Part-time employees need at least 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks.

What if there's a dispute?

Start by talking it through. If it can't be resolved, the employee can complain to the WRC using its online complaint form. The complaint must be made within 6 months, which can be extended by another 6 months where there was reasonable cause for the delay.

Keeping leave straight without a spreadsheet

With TeamZap, staff request leave from their phone and a manager approves it. Balances, entitlements and carry-forward are kept for each person, public holiday calendars are built in, and approved leave blocks that person on the rota, so nobody is rostered on a day they have off.

Sources

Checked on 20 September 2026. Figures and dates change, so check the source before relying on one.

• Citizens Information, Annual leave (page edited 14 August 2025).
• Citizens Information, Public holidays (page edited 1 January 2026), including the 2026 and 2027 dates.
• Workplace Relations Commission, Annual leave.
• Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, and section 86(1) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 (carry-over during illness), as cited by the WRC.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact the WRC's Information and Customer Service or take professional advice.