Chapter 4 of 10 · Pay and hours · 3 of 9
Holiday pay when you leave a job in Ireland: what you are owed in your final pay
Checked 13 Oct 2026the employment Acts as amended.
Leave a job in Ireland and annual leave you accrued but did not take must be paid in your final pay under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. A public holiday the week after may be owed too.
Written for employees. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland.
Leaving a job, by choice or otherwise, usually leaves a few days of holiday untaken. The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 says those days are paid in your final pay. The figure is often wrong, sometimes missing, and occasionally argued over, so this guide explains the rule, the arithmetic, the public holiday that can be owed on top, and what to do if the money does not arrive.
The rule: accrued leave is paid on cessation
When your employment ends, your employer must pay you for any annual leave you accrued in the current leave year and did not take. The Act calls this payment in lieu of leave on cessation, and it is the one situation in which paying you instead of giving you the leave is allowed. The right applies however the employment ended: resignation, dismissal, redundancy, the end of a fixed-term contract, or a probation that did not work out.
Three points follow from the Act being the source of the right:
- A contract term that says "no holiday pay on leaving", or that forfeits leave if you resign without working full notice, cannot override the Act. You still get the statutory leave; the contract can only add to it.
- The payment is for leave accrued in the current leave year. Leave carried from an earlier year by agreement is also owed if it is still untaken.
- The payment is for statutory leave at least. Extra contractual holidays are paid on leaving only if the contract says so or that has been the practice.
How the accrued leave is worked out
Your statutory annual leave is the greatest of three methods, and on leaving you apply them to the part of the leave year you worked:
| Method | What it gives |
|---|---|
| Four working weeks | Where you worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year |
| One third of a working week per month | For each calendar month in which you worked at least 117 hours |
| 8% of hours worked | Up to a maximum of four working weeks |
For a partial year the 8% method is nearly always the one that applies, and for part-time workers it is the one that gives a fair result. The annual leave guide explains each method in full; the annual leave calculator does the sums.
Worked example: full-time
You work 39 hours a week, five days a week, and leave on 30 September. The leave year runs from 1 April (the Act's default; many employers use the calendar year instead, so check your contract). From 1 April to 30 September is 26 weeks.
- Hours worked: 26 × 39 = 1,014
- Leave accrued at 8%: 81.12 hours, which is about 10.4 days of 7.8 hours
- Leave taken: 6 days
- Owed on leaving: about 4.4 days' pay
Worked example: part-time
You work 20 hours a week over three days and leave after 12 weeks in the leave year.
- Hours worked: 12 × 20 = 240
- Leave accrued at 8%: 19.2 hours
- Leave taken: none
- Owed on leaving: 19.2 hours' pay, just under three of your working days
What rate applies
The payment is at your normal weekly rate of pay. For salaried staff that is the salary; for hourly staff it is your normal hours at your normal rate. Regular Sunday premiums and shift allowances that form part of your normal pay are generally included; irregular overtime generally is not. Tips are never included because they are not pay from the employer.
Leave during the notice period
Two things happen with leave once notice is given.
First, you keep accruing. Leave accrues on every week you are employed, including the notice period, whether you work it or are on garden leave. If you are paid in lieu of notice instead, your employment ends on the date the employer chooses and accrual stops then.
Second, the timing of leave is still the employer's decision after consulting you, so you can agree to use up leave during notice, and the employer can require it with reasonable notice. Some people prefer to work the full notice and take the money; others prefer the time. Either is lawful. What the employer cannot do is refuse both the leave and the pay.
Leave accrues on sick leave and maternity leave too, so if you were off sick during your notice, those weeks still count.
A public holiday just after you leave
The Act also provides for a public holiday that falls within the week after your last day. Where that happens, and you have worked for the employer over the preceding weeks, you are entitled to an extra day's pay for the holiday even though you had already left. The public holidays guide lists the 2026 and 2027 dates. This is one of the most frequently missed items in a final pay: if your last day is Friday 23 October 2026 and the October bank holiday falls on Monday 26 October, raise it.
What your final payslip should show
Your last payslip should set out, as separate lines, your wages up to the last day, pay for any notice you did not work (if the employer chose pay in lieu), the holiday pay for untaken leave, and any public holiday owed. Each line is subject to income tax, USC and PRSI as normal. The payslip is the record you will need if the figure is wrong, so keep it.
The P45 no longer exists. Your employer reports the final pay to Revenue and it appears in your employment detail summary on Revenue's myAccount. If a new employer asks for a P45, point them to that.
Overpaid leave
The reverse problem arises too: you took more leave than you had accrued by the time you left. The employer can recover the overpayment from your final pay only where the Payment of Wages Act 1991 allows it: an overpayment of wages, or a deduction your contract provides for that is fair and reasonable. Check the contract clause before accepting the deduction, and ask for the calculation in writing.
If the holiday pay is not paid
Follow a short sequence.
- Work out the figure yourself using the method above or the annual leave calculator.
- Write to the employer setting out the hours worked, the leave accrued, the leave taken and the sum owed, with a date by which you expect payment.
- If it is not paid, complain to the WRC under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. The 6 months run from the date the payment should have been made, which for holiday pay on cessation is your final pay date, extendable to 12 months only for reasonable cause. The WRC deadline checker gives the date.
The WRC can order the holiday pay to be paid and award compensation it considers just and equitable on top. There is no fee and no costs either way. The same facts can alternatively be framed as a deduction from wages under the Payment of Wages Act 1991; many complainants tick both and let the adjudicator decide which fits.
If the employer has gone into liquidation and cannot pay, the Insolvency Payments Scheme run by the Department of Social Protection covers arrears of holiday pay, along with wages and notice pay, within limits, on an application through the liquidator.
Where this leaves you
Every day of statutory leave you accrued and did not take is paid in your final pay, at your normal rate, whatever your contract says and however the job ended, and a public holiday in the week after you leave may be owed on top. Run the annual leave calculator with your hours from the start of the leave year to your last day: if the figure on your final payslip is lower, write to the employer with your calculation, and keep the 6 months from the final pay date in view.
Frequently asked questions
Do you get paid for unused holidays when you leave a job in Ireland?
Yes. The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 requires an employer to pay you for any annual leave you have accrued in the current leave year and not taken when your employment ends. This applies whether you resigned, were dismissed or were made redundant, and a contract cannot take it away.
How is holiday pay calculated when leaving a job?
Work out the leave accrued up to your last day using the greatest of the three statutory methods, most often 8% of the hours you worked in the leave year, subtract the leave already taken, and pay the balance at your normal rate. A full-timer with 20 days a year who leaves after 6 months having taken 5 days is owed about 5 days' pay.
Can I take my holidays during my notice period?
Yes, by agreement, and the employer can also require you to take leave during notice if it gives you reasonable notice, since it decides the timing of leave after consulting you. Either way, any leave still untaken on your last day is paid in your final pay; it is not lost.
What if my employer does not pay my holiday pay when I leave?
Ask for it in writing with your own calculation. If it is not paid, a complaint to the WRC under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 must be made within 6 months of your last day. If the employer is insolvent, the Insolvency Payments Scheme covers holiday pay within limits.
Is holiday pay taxed when you leave?
Yes. Holiday pay in your final pay is ordinary pay and is subject to income tax, USC and PRSI in the normal way. It appears on your final payslip and in your employment detail summary on Revenue's myAccount.