Gender Pay Gap Regulations Published
New Regulation or Official Guidance
By: Niall Pelly, Partner and Lisa Collins, Associate
The 2025 gender pay gap regulations have been published which confirm that employers with 50 or more employees will be required to publish a gender pay gap report for the 2025 reporting period. Under the regulations, employers must now publish the report in November (previously December) based on their chosen snapshot date. (S.I. No. 212/2025 – Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2025).
Statutory Sick Pay
New Regulation or Official Guidance
By: Niall Pelly, Partner and Lisa Collins, Associate
The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has recently announced that the anticipated increase of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from five to seven days will not commence in 2025. This is intended to provide a measure of relief to business owners who have raised concerns about the cumulative impact of such measures in light of rising labour, input and energy costs.
Auto-Enrolment Pension System Postponed
New Regulation or Official Guidance
By: Niall Pelly, Partner and Lisa Collins, Associate
The introduction of the auto-enrolment pension system has been postponed to January 1, 2026 to align with the tax year. This means that contributions to the program will be required for eligible employees from the first payroll run following January 1, 2026. The program will be administered by the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA).
Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025
Proposed Bill or Initiative
By: Niall Pelly, Partner and Lisa Collins, Associate
This proposed new legislation states that that an employer may not enforce a contractual retirement age which is below the State Pension Age (currently 66), if the employee does not consent to retire. If enacted, this will create a new employment right for employees, and a failure to respond to an employee’s request to work until the State Pension Age will be a criminal offence.
Protection of Employees (Employer’s Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2025
Proposed Bill or Initiative
By: Niall Pelly, Partner and Lisa Collins, Associate
This Bill seeks to remedy current legislative deficiencies in “informal” insolvency scenarios, i.e. situations where companies have ceased trading but have not gone through a formal winding up process in the courts.
The Bill would allow for a two-year claim period for workers affected by informal insolvency to recoup money owed to them for what are termed “historical deemed insolvencies” within a period stretching back to 1983.
Under this Bill, an employee will be able to apply to have their employer deemed insolvent for the purpose of accessing the insolvency payments. An employee will be able to serve formal notice on their employer and give them a reasonable period to pay any moneys due. If the employer fails to pay, the employee can then apply to have the employer deemed insolvent. When an application for deemed insolvency is received, the employer will be notified and given a chance to participate in the process. The test used to deem employer’s insolvency is whether they have ceased trading.
The Bill will also correct a legislative deficiency for people who are owed compensation from an informally insolvent employer for findings of gender discrimination.
Employment Permits Online System (EPOS) Is Live
Important Action by Regulatory Agency
By: Niall Pelly, Partner and Lisa Collins, Associate
On April 28, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) launched a new Employment Permits Online System (EPOS) which is expected to significantly change the way employment permits are submitted, processed and issued.
The new portal allows submissions for employment permits by employers, employees or agents. Registration is required to access the portal, which for employers includes providing key documents such as Revenue and Companies Registration Office (CRO) details. Requests from DETE will be issued via email from the EPOS. The portal can be used to submit requests relating to a particular application. For employers who need to access the EPOS, early registration is important to avoid delays in processing applications. Employers should interact with the system’s features and functionalities to ensure familiarity and update internal procedures to align with the new system. Staff members should be trained on how to navigate the platform and perform critical tasks.
