Before the first payday
- Register as an employer with Revenue for PAYE, through ROS. Do this before anyone is paid, not after.
- Set up payroll software capable of real-time submissions and of handling auto-enrolment.
- Register the employee with Revenue so you can retrieve their Revenue Payroll Notification. Without a current RPN they go onto emergency tax and they will notice immediately.
- Register on the My Future Fund employer portal using your ROS certificate.
- Put employer's liability insurance in place.
- Issue the written statement of core terms within five days of the employee starting.
The five-day written statement is a statutory obligation with a penalty attached, and it is the one first-time employers miss most often. It is separate from, and earlier than, the full contract.
What you have to pay
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| National minimum wage | €14.15 per hour from 1 January 2026 |
| Employer PRSI | Class A, with rates rising 0.15 points from 1 October 2026 |
| Auto-enrolment employer contribution | 1.5% of gross pay, rising to 6% by year 10 |
| Annual leave | 4 working weeks, or 8% of hours worked, capped at 4 weeks |
| Public holidays | 10 per year |
| Statutory sick leave | 5 days at 70% of pay, capped at €110 per day |
Reduced minimum wage rates apply to employees under 20. Everything above is a floor — contracts, custom and sectoral employment orders can require more.
The documents
The five-day statement
Within five days of starting, the employee must receive a written statement covering the core terms: the names of both parties, the employer's address, the expected duration where it is a fixed-term contract, the rate or method of calculating pay, the pay reference period, and the expected normal working hours per day and per week.
The full written terms
Within one month, a fuller statement of terms is required, covering place of work, job title or nature of the work, start date, pay intervals, paid leave, incapacity and sick pay, pensions, notice periods, any collective agreements, and probation and training arrangements.
What else has to exist
- A safety statement under health and safety legislation, based on a written risk assessment.
- Grievance and disciplinary procedures, which you must furnish within 28 days of starting.
- A privacy notice covering the employee data you hold, under GDPR.
- Records of working time, retained for three years.
Payroll, in real time
Ireland operates PAYE in real time. A payroll submission must reach Revenue on or before the date the employee is paid — not at month end, and with no grace period. The resulting PAYE, PRSI and USC liability is then due by the 14th of the following month, or the 23rd where you pay through ROS.
Every pay period you retrieve current RPNs, process the run, file the submission on or before payday, and issue payslips. A payroll processed two days late is a late submission on your Revenue record, every time.
Employee or contractor?
Engaging someone as a contractor to avoid all of the above is the most expensive mistake available to a first-time employer, and the rules tightened after the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in the Karshan case. Revenue's guidance now works through a five-question framework.
Where an arrangement is employment in substance, the liability for the PAYE that should have been operated falls on you as the engaging business, along with interest and penalties, regardless of what the contract says or what the worker preferred.
The obligations that arrive after year one
- Auto-enrolment contributions step up over ten years to 6% of gross pay.
- Statutory leave entitlements — maternity, paternity, parent's, parental, carer's, and force majeure — each with their own rules.
- Unfair dismissal protection generally applies after twelve months of continuous service.
- Redundancy entitlement begins at 104 weeks of continuous service.
- Enhanced Reporting Requirements for travel and subsistence, remote working allowances and small benefits, reported in real time.
The short version
Hiring is not a payroll change, it is a new compliance regime. Register before payday, document in the first five days, pay on or before the date the submission is due, and enrol eligible people in My Future Fund from the start. Everything else follows from getting those four right.