Did you know that employees scheduled to work on a Bank Holiday are entitled to an additional day’s pay for the day?

Our HR expertise explained everything employers & employees need to know about Bank holiday entitlements in Ireland.

There are ten Bank Holidays in the Irish Calendar each year, see as follow:

  • New Year’s Day (1st January)
  • First Monday in February (variable date)

  • St. Patrick’s Day (17th March)
  • Easter Monday (variable date)
  • First Monday in May (variable date)
  • First Monday in June (variable date)

  • First Monday in August (variable date)
  • Last Monday in October (variable date)
  • Christmas Day (25th December)
  • St. Stephen’s Day (26th December)

Let’s breakdown and simplify the statutory Bank Holiday entitlements under Irish employment legislation, see below some real scenarios of an Employee pay entitlement:

Example – Employee ‘A’

Let’s say Employee A is a retail store sales assistant and is required to work on St. Stephen’s Day as it is the first day of the store’s seasonal sale. On a typical working day, Employee A earns €100 for the day, by working on the Bank Holiday, he or she is entitled to receive her typical day, as well as an additional of 100 for the day she worked on the Bank Holiday. So Employee A receives €200 for working on the Bank Holiday. If there is any ambiguity in ascertaining what an extra day pay should equal the employer should look at the last day worked before the Bank Holidays.

Example – Employee ‘B’

Employee B is an administrative assistant in a bank who typically works 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday. Usually, he or she is scheduled to work on the day a Bank Holiday falls; however, this time, they are not required to work on that day. Employee B should receive her or his typical day pay for that day. For example, if Employee B gets €200 on a typical working day, but the company is closed on the day of the Bank Holidays, she or he will still receive their typical day pay.

Example – Employee ‘C’

This example can cause the most confusion. Let’s take a look at the case of Employee C.

Employee C works Wednesday to Friday and receives €100 per day in remuneration. If a Bank Holiday falls on a Tuesday, even though Employee C never works that day, he or she still has the right to benefit from the Bank Holiday in some way. They are still entitled to be paid a certain amount as a benefit for the Bank Holiday (one-fifth of their standard weekly pay). If Employee C earns €300 per three day week (Wednesday-Friday), he  or she are entitled to receive an additional of €60 during a week where a Bank Holiday falls on a Monday or Tuesday.

Then the rest as normal….

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Summary of Entitlements

Full-time Employees

Employees who qualify for a Bank Holiday are entitled to one of 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 one month of the public holiday

Part-time Employees

If you have worked for your employer at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday and the public holiday falls on a day you normally work you are entitled to a day’s pay for the public holiday.

If you are required to work that day you are entitled to an additional day’s pay.

If you do not normally work on that particular day you should receive one-fifth of your weekly pay. Even if you may never be rostered to work on a public holiday you are entitled to one-fifth of your weekly pay as compensation for the public holiday.