What are the changes for 2025

1. Minimum Wage

As per Government announcements, the minimum wage has changed. It has risen to €13.50 per hour effective from the 1st January 2025. The rates do not necessarily apply where you are employed by a close relative for example by a spouse or parent. Also staff 19 years old and younger, the following applies:

There has been talk of phasing out these age categories, but nothing has been formally announced. Furthermore, the government has indicated that it is looking to move minimum rates to what is called a Living Wage, which will set the pay rates in the future to 60% of the “median” wage. Interestingly the SVP estimates that for 2024 the Living Wage actually dropped by 5 cent per hour. For more details on the 2025 minimum wage increase, visit the official Irish Government page.

2. Sick Leave

There was some talk that changes to this would be postponed for 2025, and it does appear to have happened. Therefore, staff are entitled to 5 days Sick Leave as per previous provisions (Medically certified on the first day etc.). To find out more about the range of services Corporate HR Ireland offer please visit Our Services Page.

3. Auto Enrolment Pensions

Initially, in the absence of an existing Company Contributory Pension Scheme, it was the Government’s plan to have this rolled out by the start of 2025, but this has been pushed back to September 2025, but there is still a lot of work to be done in the background. However, it will kick in at some stage and therefore it is important to begin planning for these changes.

Visit the official government page on Auto-Enrolment Pensions for full details.

4. Gender Pay Gap Reporting

2025 sees firms with staff numbers in excess of 50 staff having to produce a report on this area. In essence, it will consider the average hourly pay rate for men and women. It includes certain benefit in kind payments, overtime, allowances etc. It will look for mean (average) and median rates (mid-point) as well, and look at staff divided into lower paid, lower middle, upper middle and upper pay groups.

5. Maternity Leave Changes

In the case of a physical condition that requires medical treatment an employee will be entitled to postpone their maternity leave for a period of 5 to 52 weeks depending on the condition. This would be similar to a number of other leaves that operate this at the moment. Though it looks like (at the time of writing) that this may not cover mental health issues.

6. Non-Disclosure Agreements

There is new proposed legislation that will not allow NDAs. They will not be permitted in cases dealing with discrimination, victimisation, harassment in any form unless asked for by the employee where they have access to legal advice. Additionally there will be a provision that will allow for a matter to be reported in cases of Protected Disclosure.

7. Work Permits

With changes from last year, one of the more interesting changes is the introduction of “Seasonal” Work Permits. These will be for short durations and applied for annually. They will need a Labour Market Needs Test, but will not need to post advertisements for the National Media that is normally required.

8. Retirement Age

In a case before the Supreme Court there appears to be a softening of the mandated retirement ages. In Mallon v Minister of Justice the court allow the setting of an upper age limit once there are legitimate aims behind the move and it is applied in a fair and consistent manner. (Legitimate aims would include things like promoting of young persons accessing to professions, balancing the age profile of the business, avoiding possible disputes over an employees ability to work beyond a certain age, avoiding humiliating by dismissing an employee where they are no longer capable of working etc.)

9. Retirement Age – New Legislation

It should also be noted that the government has draft legislation (called the catchy – Employment (Restriction of Certain Mandatory Retirement Ages) Bill. This allows the employee to retire before the State Pension Age (currently 66) but will restrict the employer from setting an age limit below this point. Currently it is making its way through the Dail, but it could be a while before it’s enacted. But it is worth keeping an eye on.

If you do have a suggestion for a Blog on Employee Relations/Employment Law, we would be delighted to hear from you. You can reach out to us via our Contact Us Page or email any suggestions directly to us at  info@corporatehrireland.com.