Annual leave and public holidays in Ireland: what you are owed

How much paid holiday the law gives you, the three ways to work it out, all 10 public holidays for 2026 and 2027, and what part-time workers get.

If a public holiday falls on a day you do not normally work, you are still owed something: one-fifth of your weekly pay. That applies to part-time staff who never work public holidays, once they have worked 40 hours in the five weeks before.

Four working weeks a year

Most employees are entitled to four working weeks of paid annual leave each year. A working week is the time you normally work. If you work three 10-hour days, your leave week is three days, or 30 hours.

The legal leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March, though many employers use the calendar year. Employers can give more leave. Any extra should be set out in your written terms of employment.

Three ways to work it out

There are three methods. You get whichever gives you the most leave, up to four working weeks.

Part-time workers usually use the 8% method. If you work 20 hours a week for 45 weeks, that is 900 hours. 8% of that is 72 hours of paid leave, or 3.6 weeks of 20 hours.

Leave keeps building up while you are on annual leave, certified sick leave, maternity, paternity, parental or adoptive leave. It does not build up during lay-off or short-time working.

Pay, timing and carrying leave over

• Holiday pay is paid in advance, at your normal weekly rate
• If your pay varies, it is the average of the 13 weeks before your holiday
• Your employer decides when you take leave, but must discuss it with you at least a month before
• After 8 months' work, you are entitled to two weeks off in a row
• Your employer cannot pay you instead of giving leave, unless you are leaving the job

Leave should be taken in the leave year. With your employer's agreement, you can take it within six months after the year ends. If you leave your job, you must be paid for leave you did not take.

Sick during your holidays

If you fall ill on holiday, get a medical certificate from your GP as soon as you can. Certified sick days do not count as annual leave, so you can take those days later. Your employer cannot make you use annual leave for them.

If you leave your job within those 15 months, you should be paid for that untaken leave.

Ireland's 10 public holidays

St Brigid's Day is the first Monday in February, or 1 February itself if that falls on a Friday. It has been a public holiday since 2023, bringing the total to 10.

What you get for a public holiday

Full-time workers qualify from day one. Your employer picks one of four options.

• A paid day off on the day
• A paid day off within a month
• An extra day of annual leave
• An extra day's pay

You can ask for a particular option at least 21 days before. If your employer has not replied 14 days before the holiday, you get the day itself off with pay. If you work on the day, you are paid for the work and still get one of the four options.

If a public holiday falls on a weekend, you still get the benefit. But there is no legal right to the next working day off. If your job ends in the week before a public holiday, and you worked in the 4 weeks before that, you are paid for the holiday.

If you are sick on a public holiday

If you are on sick leave on a public holiday, you are still entitled to the benefit for it. This stops if you have been off sick for more than 26 weeks before the holiday, or more than 52 weeks after a work accident.

If your employer gets it wrong

Raise it with your employer first. If that fails, you can complain to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) within 6 months. This can be extended to 12 months if you had reasonable cause for the delay.