The Government recently published its Autumn 2026 Legislation Programme (the ‘Programme‘), which identifies 32 Bills for priority publication, a further 32 for priority drafting during the 13-week autumn parliamentary session, alongside 65 other Bills in development.
We have summarised below some of the key developments for employers.
Gender Pay Gap Reporting Portal
Currently, employers who are required to publish gender pay gap reports must publish reports on their own websites. The Gender Pay Gap Portal (a central online reporting portal) was launched on a voluntary basis in November 2025. From the 2026 reporting cycle onwards, employers will be obliged to publish their reports on both their own website and the Gender Pay Gap Portal.
Among the measures prioritised for publication is the Employment Equality (Gender Pay Gap Information) (Amendment) Bill, which will provide the legislative basis to require employers to submit gender pay gap information through the central online reporting portal.
Pay Transparency
Ireland has missed the 7 June transposition deadline for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, however, the Programme does note that heads of bill are in preparation for a Pay Transparency Bill, which will transpose the provisions of the directive.
Ireland is not an outlier in this respect, and many of our European neighbours have not yet enacted legislation to give effect to the provisions of the Directive. For further information on the Directive and its requirements, you can refer to our EU Pay Equity and Transparency: At a Glance guide, and can access to our Pay Transparency Tracker for updates on implementation across member states.
Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill 2026
Another notable proposal under development is the Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill 2026, with the Programme confirming work in ongoing to amend the employment equality acts and to provide for surrogacy leave and leave for pregnancy loss.
The Government approved the General Scheme of the Pregnancy Leave Loss Bill in July 2026, with the proposed legislation intended to address the current absence of a specific statutory leave entitlement where an employee experiences pregnancy loss before 23 weeks’ gestation. Under the existing framework, an employee may avail of maternity leave where a stillbirth occurs from 23 weeks’ gestation onwards.
Entitlement and Pay
The General Scheme proposes an entitlement to a minimum of five days’ pregnancy loss leave per year for an employee who experiences a pregnancy loss before 23 weeks’ gestation. The entitlement to take leave would apply from the first day of employment, but with a 13 week service requirement in order to be entitled to paid leave. Medical certification would also be required.
It is intended that a statutory instrument would be introduced, providing for payment by the employer at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay (currently 70% of the employee’s normal daily earnings, subject to a cap of €110 per day). The leave would operate as a distinct statutory entitlement, separate from both statutory sick leave and maternity leave, and could be taken within 56 weeks of the pregnancy loss.
Non-Applicability to More Generous Schemes
Employers operating their own pregnancy loss leave scheme would not be required to apply the statutory arrangements where their existing scheme, taken as a whole, is more favourable to employees. This may allow employers some flexibility to retain existing policies which provide enhanced pay, a longer period of leave, or less onerous certification requirements, though note that a more favourable sick pay scheme will not be considered sufficient to discharge an employers’ obligations in respect of providing leave for pregnancy loss.
Employment Protections
The General Scheme also proposes protections for employees availing of the entitlement, whereby employees would be protected against penalisation, while a dismissal connected with exercising the right would be treated as automatically unfair. Pregnancy loss leave would also count as reckonable service for employment rights purposes. Complaints concerning the entitlement could be pursued through the Workplace Relations Commission.
Platform Work
Finally, one notable absence from the Programme is legislation to transpose the EU’s Platform Work Directive, despite the fast-approaching transposition deadline of 2 December 2026.
The Government has however recently indicated that it is on track to complete transposition by the December deadline. We expect that once legislation is passed, competent authorities will likely update Codes of Practice providing guidance on the determination of employment status from both an employment and tax perspective.
For more information on the Directive and transposition status across member states, see our article here, and further information on transposition in Ireland, see our article here.
