As an employer, you have probably been asked several times if Good Friday is an entitled day off for your employees. The answer in most cases is no.  The Republic of Ireland has 9 public holidays each year. Public holidays are sometimes referred to as bank holidays but the terminology is confusing.  Bank holidays are where banks and schools close for the day. Public holidays on the other hand are as follows:

• New Year’s Day (1 January)
• St. Patrick’s Day (17 March)
• Easter Monday
• First Monday in May, June, August
• Last Monday in October
• Christmas Day (25 December)
• St. Stephen’s Day (26 December)

As you can see, Good Friday is not a considered a public holiday and as an employer, you have no obligation to provide this day off to your employees.

Employees are entitled to one fifth of their average working week – in most cases for full time staff this will mean an entitlement to a full day’s pay for a public holiday. Part-time employees must have worked a total of 40 hours within the 5 week period prior to the public holiday to qualify for the entitlement. They are entitled to one fifth of their average working week, averaged over the preceding 13 weeks worked.

Employees who do qualify are entitled to the following:

• A paid day off on the public holiday
• An additional day of annual leave
• An additional day’s pay
• A paid day off within a month of the public holiday

As an employer, understanding the laws and regulations of your employee’s payroll, the tax deductions, recent changes in USC, paid holidays and unpaid holidays, part time workers, and many other variations that come with managing payroll can be a complex task.  Here at Payroll Assist, we understand these challenges are happy to help you.