Employer Compliance Basics in Ireland: The Complete Guide

Most employer compliance problems in Ireland start with a small question that nobody checked: is this request statutory leave, how long can we keep this file, or what lawful basis are we relying on for this data? This employer compliance basics Ireland guide covers three foundation topics that sit behind almost every HR decision: statutory leave, record retention and the lawful basis for employee data under GDPR. Each section summarises one of our detailed posts and tells you who it is for. The leave and record-keeping rules covered here are national, so a Dublin employer applies them in the same way as any other employer in the State.

We start with leave. Our employer overview of every type of statutory leave puts the whole list in one place. This guide is general information, not legal advice, and it adds no facts beyond those in the three linked posts.

How to use this guide

Choose the starting point that fits your question:

• A manager has received a request for time off: read the statutory leave section.
• You are tidying HR files or writing a retention policy: read the records section.
• You are drafting contracts, privacy notices or HR forms: read the lawful basis section.

All three posts rely on official pages, such as Citizens Information, the Workplace Relations Commission, Revenue and the Data Protection Commission, and give the date each page showed where there was one. Because figures and rules change, re-check the official page on the day you apply a rule.

Statutory leave: the map

The leave overview is a map rather than a deep dive. It is built from Citizens Information leave pages that the author opened, with each page's own last-edited date given where shown. It starts with the leave that applies to almost every employee, annual leave, public holidays and sick leave, and then moves through the family leave entitlements, which are maternity, adoptive, paternity, parent's and parental leave. It then covers carer's leave, force majeure leave, leave for medical care and domestic violence leave, and it includes a comparison table showing for each type the length as stated and what the pages say about employer pay.

Two parts of the post are especially useful for managers. The first is its summary of which types need a minimum period of service and which do not; the answer varies, so a one-size rule will mislead. The second is its section on where there is no statutory right. It reports that compassionate leave after a bereavement depends on the contract, custom and practice and the employer's discretion, and that career breaks and study leave carry no automatic right and depend on the contract, with employers expected to consider each request individually. The post suggests, as a practical step, that anything you offer beyond the legal minimum should be set out in the contract or staff handbook.

The overview also notes that complaints about leave can go to the Workplace Relations Commission, with time limits described on the Citizens Information page. Because the pages carry different last-edited dates, and several are older than others, the post recommends recording when you last checked each rule.

Who it is for: HR and payroll staff, line managers who handle leave requests, and small employers who have no dedicated HR function.

Employment records: what to keep and for how long

Our guide to how long employers must keep employment records begins with a blunt message: there is no single answer. The period depends on the type of record and the law that requires it, and data protection law adds a second question about how long personal data may be kept.

The post first sets out the statutory records that the Workplace Relations Commission says an employer must maintain, such as employee details, terms of employment, payroll details, payslips, hours of work and holiday entitlements, and points out that the WRC page lists what to keep but states no retention periods. It then covers the periods the official pages do state: three years for working time records according to Citizens Information, with the page noting that failure to keep records is an offence, and six years for particular Revenue record types such as employee expense records. It is careful to say that it did not confirm a single general payroll rule and advises checking with Revenue.

Just as importantly, the post lists where the official pages are silent: recruitment files, unsuccessful applications, performance reviews, training records, disciplinary files and medical or absence notes. It does not invent periods for them. On the data protection side, it explains that the Data Protection Commission says GDPR sets no fixed retention periods for types of data, so employers must apply any statutory obligations and otherwise keep personal data only as long as necessary for its purpose.

Its suggestions, labelled as such, are to build a retention schedule listing each record type, the reason for holding it, the legal basis and the period with its source, to use the longest relevant statutory period where several apply, to record the reason for any longer retention, and to set review dates.

Who it is for: HR managers, office managers and anyone responsible for payroll or personnel files.

Lawful basis for employee data

The third foundation topic is one where many employers default to consent. Many ask staff to sign a consent form for HR data, assuming that consent is the safest route. Our post on the lawful basis for employee data and why consent is rarely the answer explains why the Data Protection Commission and the European Data Protection Board point the other way: the imbalance between employer and employee makes freely given consent unlikely for most workplace processing.

The post sets out the six lawful grounds listed in the GDPR, what valid consent requires, including the right to withdraw at any time, and the EDPB's view that employees can give free consent only in exceptional circumstances where refusing has no adverse consequences. It then walks through the bases employers more often need, namely contract, legal obligation and legitimate interests, and it states plainly that the mapping of bases to HR examples is the author's suggestion, because the DPC and EDPB pages do not provide HR examples. It also notes that special category data such as health data needs both an ordinary lawful basis and an additional condition, and it does not set out the Irish provisions, advising readers to take advice on sickness records.

Its practical steps are to list the categories of employee data and their purposes, choose and record one basis per purpose, remove "I consent" wording from contracts and handbooks unless the employee has a real choice, update the staff privacy notice and review the list when systems change.

Who it is for: HR leads, data protection contacts and anyone drafting contracts, handbooks or privacy notices.

How the three topics connect

These topics overlap more than they first appear. A leave record is an employment record, so the retention question applies to it. Both leave and retention decisions involve personal data, so you need a lawful basis for holding it. And a staff member who asks to see their data raises both the retention question and the lawful basis question. A practical approach, which is our suggestion and not a legal requirement:

• Keep one policy document per topic, each with an owner and a date it was last checked against the official page.
• Cross-reference them, so your retention schedule names the legal basis for each record type and your leave policy says what is recorded.
• Train line managers to recognise statutory leave and to send record or data questions to the right person.
• Review at least once a year, and whenever you adopt a new HR system.

What these posts leave open

The posts are open about their limits. The leave overview does not state benefit rates. The records post did not find official retention periods for several everyday HR documents and did not confirm a general payroll rule. The lawful basis post did not open the Irish provisions on employment data. For any point where the exact rule matters, go to the official page the post names.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Which topic should a new employer deal with first?

Start with whichever you face today. The records and lawful basis posts help you set up files and forms correctly from the start.

Is compassionate leave a legal entitlement?

The leave overview reports Citizens Information as saying it is not set by law and depends on the contract, custom and practice and the employer's discretion.

Does GDPR change how long employment records must be kept?

The records post reports that Citizens Information and the WRC say employment-law record-keeping obligations are not affected by GDPR, while the DPC says GDPR itself sets no fixed periods.

Can staff consent be our lawful basis for HR data?

The lawful basis post explains that the EDPB treats it as appropriate only in exceptional circumstances. See the post for the reasoning and the alternatives.

Are the rules different for Dublin employers?

No. The leave and records posts treat the rules as national, so they apply to a Dublin employer in the same way as to any other.

Use this guide to find the right starting point, then open the detailed post and the official page behind it.