Know where you stand
Your rights at work in آئرلینڈ
Every line has the official page behind it, so you can check us. These rights hold whether you came through Sama or not, and whether you are on a permit or not.
Read this first
You never pay to get a job. Not us, not anyone.
It is not legal for an employment agency to charge you a fee for finding you work, and no employer may take recruitment costs, permit costs or "training" out of your wages. If somebody is asking you for money, or holding your passport, stop and ring one of the numbers on this page. You will not get in trouble for asking.
What you are entitled to
Nine things the law in آئرلینڈ gives you
Checked against the official sources in September 2026. Figures change, so open the link beside anything you are relying on.
1
Getting paid at least the minimum wage
From 1 January 2026 the national minimum wage in Ireland is €14.15 an hour for workers aged 20 and over. It is €12.74 at 19, €11.32 at 18 and €9.91 under 18. Your employment permit may require a higher salary than this; the permit figure is a floor of its own, set by the Department, and it changes.
2
A payslip, every time you are paid
You are entitled to a written statement of your gross pay and every deduction from it. Deductions have to be either required by law, such as tax and PRSI, or agreed by you in writing. Nobody may deduct recruitment fees, permit costs or "training" from your wages.
3
Four weeks of paid holidays a year
A full-time employee is entitled to four working weeks of paid annual leave a year. Part-time is normally 8% of the hours you work. Public holidays are separate from this, and your contract may give you more than the minimum but never less.
4
Limits on your working hours, and rest between shifts
There are legal limits on the average hours you can be asked to work, and legal minimum rest breaks and rest between shifts. If you drive for a living, the drivers hours rules apply on top of these and they are stricter.
5
A written statement of your terms
Your employer must give you core terms in writing within five days of starting, and fuller terms within a month. If what you were promised and what is on the paper are different, that gap is the thing to raise before you sign, not after.
6
A safe place to work, and the right to refuse unsafe work
Your employer must provide a safe workplace, training, and the protective equipment the job needs, at their cost, not yours. If you believe a job is seriously and immediately dangerous, you have the right to leave the danger and report it. You may not be penalised for raising it.
7
The same treatment as an Irish worker
Employment law in Ireland applies to you in exactly the same way as it applies to an Irish citizen. Your nationality, your race, your religion and your permit status do not reduce a single one of these rights. Discrimination on nine grounds is unlawful.
8
Protection if you are dismissed unfairly
After a qualifying period, an employee dismissed without fair grounds and fair procedure can bring a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission. Being on an employment permit does not remove this.
9
Keeping your own passport
Your passport is yours. No employer and no agency has any right to hold it. If anyone has taken your passport and will not return it, that is a serious matter and the numbers below are the ones to ring.
In Ireland
Free and independent
Workplace Relations Commission
Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm
Pay, hours, holidays, payslips, dismissal. This is the body that enforces employment law in Ireland and takes complaints.
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
13 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1, D01 Y893. info@mrci.ie
Free and confidential casework for migrant workers, including exploitation and trafficking. Independent of any employer or agency, and independent of us.
Citizens Information
Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm
Free information on everything: rights, benefits, housing, health, tax, immigration. Centres in every county and a phone service.
Health and Safety Authority
Report a workplace safety concern
Unsafe work, missing guards, no training, no protective equipment. They inspect and they can stop a job.
Emergency services
Any time
Fire, ambulance, Gardai. Both numbers work in Ireland, and 112 works across the EU.
Also here
Also free
Your rights in the UKThe entitlement, and the body that enforces it.If something goes wrongThe entitlement, and the body that enforces it.Practice testsEnglish, and the rules of the road for Ireland and the UK. Free.Settling in where you landA doctor, a bank, a place to pray, a shop that stocks home, and people who play your sport.
This page is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it is no substitute for advice on your own situation. It was checked against the official sources shown, in September 2026. The law and the figures change. Before you rely on anything here, open the official link beside it or ring the body named, and if the matter is serious, take proper advice.