You’ll need to follow a variety of compensation and benefits laws to stay compliant when growing your company in the Republic of Ireland. Employers must follow the country’s statutory minimums and provide supplemental benefits to attract a greater talent pool or stand out among other employers. G-P is here to help throughout your entire journey.
Republic of Ireland compensation laws
As of Jan. 1, 2023, the national minimum wage is EUR 11.30 per hour, but some exceptions exist. Employees under 18 get 70% of the minimum wage while employees aged 18 and 19 receive 80% and 90% of the minimum wage respectively. Employers must give all employees a pay slip that shows their earnings and any deductions.
Overtime pay is not a legal requirement, but many employers include overtime rates in the employment contract. Employers should review the employment contract with employees before their first day. In this contract, you can define sick pay entitlements, parental leave, overtime pay, and other aspects.
Although compensation laws in the Republic of Ireland do not require employers to provide bonuses, many choose a bonus scheme for their employees. Monetary or shares performance-based bonuses are standard options.
Guaranteed benefits in the Republic of Ireland
When you develop your Republic of Ireland benefits management plan, you’ll need to include both guaranteed and additional benefits. The statutory benefits include access to a pension arrangement.
Employees are typically entitled to 20 paid days of yearly vacation. You can calculate the number of days an employee receives based on how many hours they work in a given year. In addition to statutory annual leave, workers get the country’s 10 public holidays off.
Pregnant employees are entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave and 16 weeks of additional leave that begin immediately after maternity leave ends.
Workers in the Republic of Ireland receive healthcare through the country’s public healthcare system funded by general taxation. However, an additional private healthcare system is available. Many employees will expect private health insurance.
The Republic of Ireland benefits management
Employers should typically budget around 20% on top of an employee’s gross salary for benefits.
Republic of Ireland competitive benefits planning
As you develop your strategy for growing your company in the Republic of Ireland, establishing a competitive benefits program should be a priority. You want to create a benefits plan that will meet current market standards, attract leading professionals in the region, and comply with legal regulations.
Republic of Ireland employee benefits plans
You can provide a range of offerings with practical value to best meet your employees’ needs and position your company competitively in the local economy. Some options include:
- Gym memberships
- Cycle-to-work schemes
- Employee rewards for performance and years of service
- Options for pension schemes
- Per diem reimbursement for business travel
Requirements for employee benefits in the Republic of Ireland
All employers in the Republic of Ireland are required to provide their employees with access to a personal retirement savings account (PRSA). Several other benefits are state funded in the Republic of Ireland, including medical insurance, workers’ compensation, pensions, and various other forms of leave.
Many employers in the country choose to go beyond the required minimums for benefits. Your supplemental offerings will show employees that you value their contributions. Fringe benefits can also make your open positions more competitive.
How to design your employee benefits program
When designing employee benefits plans, you can follow a few basic steps to ensure your program is sustainable and effective.
1. Determine your resources and goals.
It’s best to start by evaluating your resources and determining how much you can allocate to benefits. To make the most of your funds, consider what you plan to accomplish with your benefits plan. If employee retention is a priority, you might consider hiring a small team and offering extensive benefits. If you need to support larger-scale operations, perhaps you should prioritize the key benefits you can provide with your available resources.
Make sure you’re factoring other operational expenses into your budget as well. Some key considerations include administration expenses and any employee contributions to the scheme.
2. Assess critical needs.
Conducting a needs assessment is an integral part of benefits planning. When you know which supplemental benefits are the most appealing to employees, you can prioritize them in your budget. You can take several approaches to gathering employee insights, such as conducting interviews and mailing out questionnaires. Consult with stakeholders, research economic conditions, and fulfill your due diligence to gain a holistic understanding of your employees’ needs.
3. Establish your employee benefits program.
After you’ve collected sufficient data, you can begin crafting your employee compensation and benefits plan. Complete a gap analysis to determine what options you need to focus your resources on most, and then integrate your research results into your program design.
In this stage, remember that you can reassess your budget as your company grows. Your benefits plan should scale along with your business.
Average cost of benefits per employee
Every company has a different budget, so the cost of benefits can vary widely. To address your operational needs, ensure you design a program that matches your available resources and optimally addresses your employees’ needs.
How to calculate employee benefits
Regardless of the employee benefits you offer, you’ll need to calculate contributions for a retirement savings account. As with the average cost of benefits, your calculations will vary depending on how you customize your offerings. However, you can research local market standards to identify competitive rates for your industry and region.
How are employee benefits taxed in the Republic of Ireland?
The majority of mandatory and supplemental employee benefits are taxable as part of income. If the benefits you provide have monetary value, you must deduct taxes from them at the appropriate rates on a pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) basis.
Employee health benefits plans
The country offers state-sponsored healthcare coverage, so including health benefits in your program is not required; however, most employees will request private health insurance due to long delays with the public service. Therefore, to remain competitive in today’s market, we recommend providing private health insurance.
Partner with G-P to build your everywhere workforce.
As your partner in global expansion, G-P will handle payroll and compliance, so you can focus on growing your team and scaling your business. Our market-leading Global Growth Platform™ is powered by the first fully customizable suite of global employment products and backed by the industry’s largest team of in-country HR and legal experts to streamline payroll management and help you offer competitive, compliant local benefits.
Learn more about our platform and request a proposal today.