Employer PRSI for hospitality in 2026: rates, the €552 threshold and worked examples

Employer PRSI is the cost that doesn't show on the roster. You see €14.15 an hour on the screen; the business pays that plus up to 11.40% on top. For hospitality, where many staff earn somewhere near €552 a week, the way the threshold works matters as much as the rate. This guide sets out the 2026 rates, explains the €552 line, and works through examples for part-time bar staff and a full-time chef.

This is general information for planning rosters, not tax advice. Your payroll provider or accountant should confirm how PRSI applies to your staff.

Class A employer PRSI rates in 2026

Most hospitality employees, in industrial, commercial and service-type employment with reckonable pay of €38 or more a week from all employments, are PRSI Class A.

The rate applies to all of that week's pay. There's no band where only the slice above €552 is charged at the higher rate.

For completeness, employee PRSI is 4.35% from 1 October 2026 (4.20% before), with a tapered credit between €352.01 and €424 a week. That's deducted from the employee's pay, not an extra cost to you.

Under €38 a week: Class J

Most people with total reckonable pay of less than €38 a week from all employments are insurable at Class J. Employees pay nothing. The employer rate is 0.70% up to 30 September 2026 and 0.85% from 1 October 2026.

In a pub, that might be a teenager collecting glasses for two hours on a Sunday. Some other employees are also Class J regardless of earnings, such as people over pensionable age receiving the State Pension (Contributory). Check with your payroll provider for anyone unusual.

Worked examples from 1 October 2026

These are illustrative examples, using the 9.15% and 11.40% rates.

Part-time bar staff

Ciarán works 20 hours a week behind the bar at the minimum wage of €14.15.

• Weekly pay: 20 × €14.15 = €283.00
• Below €552, so 9.15% applies
• Employer PRSI: €283.00 × 9.15% = €25.89 a week
• Total weekly cost (pay plus employer PRSI): €308.89

Before 1 October, at 9.00%, his employer PRSI was €25.47.

Full-time chef

Gráinne is a chef de partie on €16.50 an hour for 39 hours.

• Weekly pay: 39 × €16.50 = €643.50
• Above €552, so 11.40% applies to the whole €643.50
• Employer PRSI: €643.50 × 11.40% = €73.36 a week
• Total weekly cost: €716.86

Over a year, that's about €3,815 in employer PRSI for one chef, before annual leave and public holidays.

Side by side

The gap isn't only the hourly rate. Once a week's pay crosses €552, every euro paid that week carries 2.25 percentage points more employer PRSI (11.40% against 9.15%), so the chef's extra hours cost proportionally more than the bar staff's.

Why rostering just over €552 costs more

Because the higher rate applies to the whole week's pay, crossing €552 makes a jump.

One cent more in pay adds €12.42 in employer PRSI.

Here's how that turns up on a roster. Seán is on €14.15 an hour.

• 39 hours: €551.85 pay, 9.15%, employer PRSI €50.49
• 40 hours: €566.00 pay, 11.40%, employer PRSI €64.52

The 40th hour costs €14.15 in wages plus €14.03 in extra PRSI: €28.18, almost double the hourly rate. If that extra hour is on the roster every week, it adds about €730 a year in PRSI for one person.

Employer PRSI by weekly hours at the minimum wage

For an adult on €14.15 an hour, from 1 October 2026:

At €14.15 an hour, 39 hours is the most you can roster an adult on the minimum before the week crosses €552. Anyone on a higher rate crosses sooner: at €15.00 an hour it's after 36.8 hours.

When the minimum wage changes, redo the sums. Budget 2027 announced €14.94 an hour from 1 January 2027 (not yet law); at that rate, 37 hours would come to €552.78. Check the PRSI rates and threshold that apply in 2027 when they're confirmed by the Department of Social Protection, rather than assuming they stay the same.

What pushes a week over the line

The threshold is about weekly pay, not contracted hours. In hospitality, a week can tip over because of:

• an extra shift to cover sickness
• overtime after a function or a busy weekend
• a Sunday or public holiday premium on top of basic pay
• tips and service charges paid through payroll, which Revenue treats as pay, with PRSI deducted
• a pay rise that moves someone's standard week above €552

Planning around it, sensibly

This isn't a reason to cut people's hours to save PRSI. Staff need the work and you need the cover. But it is worth knowing who's close to the line:

• Look at weekly hours per person when you build the roster, especially for staff on €13.80 to €14.50 an hour working 38 to 40 hours.
• If someone's week will be €560 instead of €550, decide deliberately, not by accident.
• For people well above €552 (most full-time chefs and managers), the higher rate always applies, so extra hours cost wages plus 11.40%.
• Remember the €552 test is applied to each week's actual pay.

Seasonal staff, students and second jobs

PRSI class depends on total reckonable pay from all employments, so a student who also works in a shop may be in a different position from one who only works for you. A Stamp 2 student working 20 hours a week at €14.15 earns €283.00, which is Class A at 9.15%. A summer student on 40 hours at the same rate crosses the line at €566.00. Your payroll provider works out the class from the details they hold, so make sure they have accurate hours for every week, including the short ones.

Common mistakes

• Applying 11.40% only to the pay above €552. It applies to the whole week.
• Using the old rates after 1 October 2026. The 9.00% and 11.25% rates ended on 30 September 2026.
• Assuming no PRSI below €38. Most of those employees are Class J, which carries a small employer rate.
• Budgeting on contracted hours when the actual week, with cover shifts and overtime, is higher.
• Leaving PRSI out of labour cost. On a full-time chef it adds more than a tenth to the wage bill.

Putting PRSI into labour cost

Employer PRSI is one part of the true cost of a member of staff, along with annual leave, public holidays and Sunday premium. Our guide to labour cost percentage for Irish venues shows how to add them up and measure them against sales, and the labour cost calculator does the arithmetic.

How ShiftComplete helps

ShiftComplete doesn't calculate PRSI, and it isn't a wages system. It helps on the rostering side. Staff set their availability on their phones, you build a fair draft roster in seconds, and you can see hours by person on the roster as you build it, which is where you spot the 40-hour week before it happens. With clocking in switched on, you can download clocked hours per person as a spreadsheet to send to whoever does your wages.

It costs €1.99 per active staff member per month, free for 60 days, no card and no contract.