Part-time and agency workers' rights in Ireland

"Part time workers rights ireland" and "what are my rights as an agency worker" are two different questions with the same answer at their core: equal treatment. A part-timer is measured against a comparable full-time worker, pro rata. An agency worker is measured against what the hirer would pay and provide if it had hired them directly. This guide covers both, with the leave and public holiday rules that generate most of the arguments.

Part-time workers

The rule

The Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 says that a part-time employee must not be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee in respect of conditions of employment, unless the different treatment can be justified on objective grounds. Being part-time is not itself an objective ground.

"Conditions of employment" is wide. It includes pay rates, overtime arrangements, annual leave, sick pay schemes, pension scheme access, training, promotion and the way redundancy selection is run. Pro rata is the method: if a full-timer on 39 hours gets 25 days' leave, a part-timer on 19.5 hours gets 12.5.

The comparator

To rely on the Act you need a comparable full-time employee: someone employed by the same employer or an associated employer, doing the same or similar work, or work of equal value, under the same type of contract. If there is no such person in your workplace, the comparison can be with a full-timer in the same industry under a collective agreement. The Act is a comparison tool; where there is nobody to compare with, the other Acts in this chapter and chapter 4 still set the floor.

Objective grounds

The employer can treat a part-timer differently only where the difference is for a legitimate purpose, is appropriate and is necessary to achieve it. Cost alone rarely passes. An employer that excluded part-timers from a bonus scheme, or from the pension scheme, or paid them a lower hourly rate for the same work, would need to show a reason that is not "they are part-time".

Annual leave on part-time hours

Annual leave under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 is the greatest of three figures: 4 working weeks where you worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year; one third of a working week for each calendar month in which you worked at least 117 hours; or 8% of the hours worked, capped at 4 working weeks. For most part-timers the 8% method gives the answer: 20 hours a week over 48 weeks is 960 hours, and 8% of that is 76.8 hours of paid leave. The annual leave calculator does the three sums and tells you which applies. Annual leave entitlement has the worked examples.

Leave is paid at your normal rate. Accrued leave not taken is paid when you leave; see holiday pay on leaving.

Public holidays on part-time hours

A part-time worker qualifies for a public holiday if they worked at least 40 hours for the employer in the 5 weeks ending on the day before the holiday. Once qualified:

• if you are normally rostered on the day, you get one of the four options: a paid day off on the day, a paid day off within a month, an extra day of annual leave, or an extra day's pay
• if you are not normally rostered on the day, you are owed one fifth of your normal weekly pay for it

That one fifth rule is the one most often missed. A worker on Tuesdays and Thursdays is still owed one fifth of a week's pay for a Monday bank holiday once the 40-hour test is met. The 2026 dates and the full rules are in public holidays in Ireland 2026.

Sick pay, pension and the rest

Statutory sick pay applies to part-timers after 13 weeks' service: 5 days a year at 70% of normal daily pay, capped at €110 a day, with a medical certificate. The 5 days are days, not pro-rated, though the daily pay is what you would have earned on each day. Auto-enrolment into My Future Fund applies to anyone aged 23 to 60 earning €20,000 or more across all employments, so a part-timer with two jobs can be enrolled on their combined earnings; see auto-enrolment pensions. Minimum notice, redundancy pay (worked out on normal weekly pay, with the €600 cap) and unfair dismissal protection apply in the ordinary way.

Variable hours

Part-timers on low or variable contract hours should read zero-hours and banded hours contracts: after 12 months you can ask to be placed in a band of hours matching what you actually work, and you are owed a minimum payment of 3 hours or 25% of contract hours when called in and sent home.

Agency workers

Who the employer is

An agency worker has a contract with the employment agency, which pays them and places them with a hirer (the client business). For the written statement of terms, pay, the minimum wage, working time, leave and most other rights, the agency is the employer. The statement must name the hirer, within 1 month. For a complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, the Acts treat the hirer as the employer, so an unfair dismissal claim is brought against the business you were working in, not the agency.

Day-one equal treatment

The Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012 gives agency workers, from the first day of an assignment, the same basic working and employment conditions as they would have had if the hirer had recruited them directly for the same job. Basic conditions means:

• pay, including overtime, shift premiums, piece rates and unsocial hours payments
• working time, rest periods, rest breaks and night work
• annual leave and public holidays

It does not cover occupational pensions, sick pay schemes, bonuses tied to company performance, or benefits in kind, unless the hirer chooses to extend them. The Act also gives agency workers equal access to the hirer's collective facilities (canteen, childcare, transport) and to information about vacancies at the hirer, so that they can apply for permanent jobs.

The hirer must give the agency the information it needs to apply the equal treatment rule, and is liable where it withheld it. The agency is liable for paying what the rule requires. If you are being paid less than a directly employed colleague doing the same work, the complaint to the WRC is under the 2012 Act, usually against the agency, within 6 months of the contravention.

What agencies cannot do

An agency cannot charge you a fee for finding you work. It cannot include a clause that prevents you taking up permanent employment with the hirer after an assignment, though it can charge the hirer a fee for the transfer. If an agency deducts money from your pay for "registration", "administration" or anything similar, that is both a breach of the 2012 Act and a deduction from wages under the Payment of Wages Act 1991; see payslips and unlawful deductions.

Hours and leave for agency workers

Annual leave and public holidays accrue on the same basis as for any employee, paid by the agency, with the hirer's leave year and rates used for the equal treatment comparison. Statutory sick pay applies after 13 weeks' service with the agency, not with the hirer, which matters for workers who move between short assignments. The 48-hour average week applies, and the hirer is responsible for health and safety on site.

Agency work and employment permits

Non-EEA workers on an employment permit are generally employed directly by the permit holder's employer and cannot be placed through an agency; the exceptions are narrow. If you are on a permit and an agency is involved, employment rights on a work permit covers the employment side and links the permit rules.

Fixed-term workers

The Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 gives fixed-term workers a parallel equal treatment rule against comparable permanent employees, and converts successive fixed terms beyond 4 years into a contract of indefinite duration unless the employer has objective grounds. The detail is in fixed-term contract not renewed.

Taking it further

Equal treatment complaints under the 2001 and 2012 Acts go to the WRC on the online form, with no fee, within 6 months of the contravention (extendable to 12 for reasonable cause). The WRC can order the employer to comply and can award compensation. Leave and public holiday shortfalls go under the Organisation of Working Time Act on the same form and the same clock. Each pay day on which you were underpaid is its own contravention, which matters for the time limit; see the WRC time limit. The WRC awards register shows what adjudicators have awarded in published decisions under each Act.

Where this leaves you

The questions to ask are whether a full-timer doing your job is treated better than you in any condition, pro rata, and, for agency work, whether the hirer's own staff on the same job are paid more or given more leave than you are. Start with the figures: the annual leave calculator works out your leave and public holiday entitlement on part-time or agency hours, which is where most shortfalls show up first. If the numbers do not match your payslips, the WRC route is open with no fee, and the WRC overview explains the steps. Terms used here are in the glossary.