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Irish leave law in brief
Every employee in Ireland is entitled to at least four working weeks of paid annual leave per leave year. The leave year normally runs from 1 April to 31 March. There are three ways to calculate the entitlement, and you get whichever gives you the most: four working weeks if you worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year, one third of a working week for each month in which you worked at least 117 hours, or 8% of the hours you worked in the leave year, capped at four weeks. A working week means the days you usually work, so four weeks is 20 days for a five-day worker and 12 days for a three-day worker.
Public holidays are separate: Ireland has ten public holidays a year, and the benefit for each one is a paid day off, a paid day off within a month, an extra day of annual leave, or an extra day's pay, chosen by your employer. Full-time employees qualify immediately; part-time employees qualify if they worked at least 40 hours in the five weeks ending on the day before the holiday. Annual leave keeps accruing during maternity leave, parental leave, certified sick leave and the first 13 weeks of carer's leave, and untaken leave can be carried over within six months of the next leave year, or 15 months if illness stopped you taking it.
Section 19 for annual leave and sections 21 to 22 for public holidays are the basis of every formula.
Two modes: the three-method annual leave calculation and the public holiday check with the part-time test.
No account, no download. The answer appears as you type.
How to use the calculator
- Choose a mode: annual leave for your four weeks of holidays, or public holiday for a single bank holiday.
- Fill in your hours: total hours in the leave year and months with at least 117 hours for annual leave, or hours in the last five weeks for a public holiday.
- See the result at once, with all three methods side by side so you can follow every step.
- Compare with your payslip. If it does not match, your contract or collective agreement is the first place to check, since it may give you more than the statutory minimum.
Frequently asked questions
What law governs holiday pay in Ireland?
The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 governs annual leave and public holidays in Ireland. Section 19 sets out the three methods for annual leave, and sections 21 to 22 set out the public holiday entitlement. Contracts and collective agreements can give better terms, but never worse than the Act.
How many public holidays are there in Ireland?
Ten: New Year's Day, St Brigid's Day (first Monday in February), St Patrick's Day, Easter Monday, the first Monday in May, the first Monday in June, the first Monday in August, the last Monday in October, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day. Christmas Eve and Good Friday are not public holidays in Ireland.
Do part-time workers qualify for bank holiday pay?
Yes, if they worked at least 40 hours in total during the five weeks ending on the day before the public holiday. Below 40 hours there is no statutory benefit for that holiday. If the holiday falls on a day the part-time worker does not normally work, the benefit is one fifth of the normal weekly wage.
Does this calculator cover Northern Ireland?
No. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and uses UK working time law, which is different from the Republic of Ireland's Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. This calculator covers the Republic of Ireland only.
Sources on Irish holiday pay
If you want to read the rules yourself, these are a good starting point. The calculator gives an estimate; the final answer comes from your employer's leave record.