New Managers in Ireland: The Employment Law Basics to Know

Becoming a manager in Ireland brings you into contact with employment law in a way that being a team member did not. You do not need to be a lawyer, but you do need to know where the employer's legal duties sit, which of them land on your desk day to day, and when to stop and ask HR or an adviser. This guide sets out the basics from Citizens Information, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the Code of Practice on grievance and disciplinary procedures. If you are drafting or issuing contracts, our guide to the written statement of terms and probation goes deeper than this overview.

First, whose legal duties are these?

Most employment legislation places duties on "the employer", which is the company or organisation, not you personally. In practice, though, the employer acts through its managers. When you approve a rota, run a disciplinary meeting or turn down a leave request, you are carrying out the employer's legal responsibilities. This article does not say when a manager may be personally liable; the pages we read are silent on it, so that is a question for your HR team or legal adviser. The HSA page on the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 does not define manager or supervisor roles either. It refers to supervision only as part of the employer's duties, and to people named in the safety statement or emergency plans, who must be adequately trained and equipped.

Our suggestion: ask HR on your first week which employment decisions you can take yourself, which need sign-off, and which policies and procedures apply to your team. Put the answers in writing.

Written terms of employment

Citizens Information says an employer must give employees a written statement of the core terms of employment within the first 5 days of work, and the remaining terms within one month of starting. The WRC's terms of employment page explains that the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994, as amended, requires employers to give these statements, and says the Day 5 notice covers core terms such as the names and addresses of the employer and employee, the place of work, the job title or description, the start date, probation terms, pay details, expected hours and the policy on tips and gratuities. The one-month statement adds further items such as pay frequency, paid leave, sickness terms, pension terms and notice periods.

Two points matter to new managers:

• Changes must be notified. The WRC page says employers must notify employees of changes to the written particulars not later than the day the change takes effect. Citizens Information adds that any change to a term requires the employee's agreement. Do not informally change someone's hours, place of work or duties without first checking with HR.
• Statements are the employer's job, but you may be the one who starts the process. The WRC page says statements must be in writing, signed and dated by or for the employer. If you hire someone, tell HR the start date early so the 5-day notice is not missed.

The WRC page also says employees can complain to the WRC about breaches such as late or missing statements, and that penalisation of employees for invoking rights under the Act is prohibited. The page states the compensation limit as four weeks' remuneration. We do not describe the complaint process further here.

Working time, breaks and records

Citizens Information says the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 governs maximum working hours and daily and weekly rest breaks. Its page on working hours (last edited 27 January 2025) says the maximum number of hours you can work in an average working week is 48, averaged over a reference period that is 4 months for most employees, with longer periods in some sectors. It lists exceptions, including employees who control their own hours.

The Citizens Information page on work breaks and rest periods (also last edited 27 January 2025) says that, in general, an employee gets a 15-minute break after more than 4½ hours, a 30-minute break after more than 6 hours, 11 consecutive hours of daily rest in any 24-hour period and 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest in any 7 days, subject to exceptions and compensatory rest where normal rules do not apply. It also says breaks are unpaid unless the contract says otherwise.

The working hours page lists employer obligations that fall naturally to managers who schedule people:

• giving at least 24 hours' notice of starting and finishing times where hours vary;
• keeping detailed working-time records.

The WRC's statutory employment records page lists, among the records employers must keep, working hours including start and finish times, meal breaks and rest periods, and holiday and public holiday entitlements received. That page shows no date and does not state how long records must be kept. If you approve timesheets or rotas, make sure what you approve is accurate, because it forms part of the employer's record.

Our suggestion: look at your own team's actual patterns. If people regularly finish late and start early the next day, or skip breaks, raise it with HR rather than treating it as normal.

Leave

Citizens Information says most employees are entitled to annual leave and public holidays from their first day, that the employer sets the timing of annual leave but should consult the employee or their union beforehand, and that employers must allow leave for a range of statutory reasons, each with its own legislation: maternity, paternity, health and safety, parental, parent's, adoptive, carer's, sick, medical care, force majeure and domestic violence leave. The page was last edited on 1 January 2026.

The key manager takeaway is that you do not decide whether these entitlements exist, only how they are scheduled and covered. For the details of each, see our overview of statutory leave entitlements in Ireland. Our suggestion: keep a simple log of requests received, dates, and what was agreed, and pass anything unusual to HR before replying.

Fair procedures: grievances, discipline and dismissal

This is where mistakes by new managers are most costly. Citizens Information says employers should have written grievance and disciplinary procedures based on the WRC Code of Practice, and must give employees a copy within 28 days of their start date. It says that before dismissing someone an employer must follow fair procedures, including giving appropriate warnings, making the employee fully aware of the allegations, giving them an opportunity to present their side and allowing representation. It also says employers must have fair grounds for dismissal and be able to show they followed fair procedures.

The WRC page on the Code of Practice on Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures says the Code was declared a code of practice by S.I. No. 146 of 2000 and that it provides guidance. Among the points it makes are:

• allegations should be put to the employee, who should be able to respond fully;
• employees have the right to be represented, for example by a colleague or a registered trade union;
• determinations should be fair and impartial;
• steps should generally be progressive, though serious breaches may warrant earlier action, including dismissal, provided fair procedures are followed;
• issues should be resolved informally with the immediate manager first where possible, then through defined stages, with an internal appeal;
• managers should know and follow the procedures, and adequate records should be kept.

Read our guide to the grievance and disciplinary Code of Practice before you act on any performance or conduct concern. Our suggestion: never issue a warning, suspend someone or start a dismissal process without speaking to HR first, and write down what was said at every meeting.

Health and safety

The HSA's page on the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 says employers must ensure the safety, health and welfare of employees, including preventing improper conduct or behaviour that could endanger them. Its listed duties include providing information, training, instruction and supervision where necessary, identifying hazards and keeping written risk assessments, preparing emergency plans, reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences, and consulting employees. Employers must have a written safety statement based on risk assessment, which must be brought to employees' attention, including new recruits. The same page lists employee duties, including to cooperate with the employer, to use safety equipment correctly, to attend required training and to report defects or dangers.

Citizens Information adds that employers must report to the HSA any accident causing an employee to miss 3 consecutive days of work (excluding the day of the accident). In practice, a manager should know where the safety statement is, make sure new starters have seen it, and know how to report an incident quickly. Our suggestion: add safety statement and incident reporting to your induction checklist for new team members.

Pay, records and data

Citizens Information's employer obligations page says employers must provide payslips showing wages and deductions, deduct tax, PRSI and the Universal Social Charge through PAYE, respond to personal data access requests within one month (which can be extended in some cases), and keep records of working hours and pay as employment law requires. It also notes that WRC inspectors can require access to records. As a manager you will often hold notes, emails and appraisal comments about your team, and they can be relevant to a data access request. Our suggestion: write notes on the assumption that the employee may one day read them.

Management skills are separate from legal duties

None of the official pages above tells you how to be a good manager, and we do not present the following as legal requirements. Our suggestions for the first 90 days:

• Meet each person individually and ask how they like to work.
• Learn the policies you will rely on most: absence, leave, grievance and discipline, and health and safety.
• Keep dated, factual notes of significant conversations.
• Escalate early. A short call to HR before a decision is cheaper than fixing a procedural mistake afterwards.

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

Are managers legally responsible for employment law compliance?

The pages we read describe duties as falling on the employer. They do not say when an individual manager might be personally liable, so ask HR or a legal adviser about your own position.

Can a manager change an employee's terms informally?

Citizens Information says any change to a term requires the employee's agreement, and the WRC page says changes to written particulars must be notified not later than the day they take effect. Speak to HR before changing hours, location or duties.

Do employees get breaks by law?

In general, yes. Citizens Information describes statutory breaks and rest periods under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, with exceptions and compensatory rest in some situations. Breaks are unpaid unless the contract says otherwise.

What should I do before starting a disciplinary process?

Read your employer's written procedure and the WRC Code of Practice summary, and speak to HR. The Code stresses that the employee should know the allegations, be able to respond and be allowed representation.

This article is general information drawn from the official pages named above. It is not legal advice.