Minimum wage 2026 in Ireland: what hospitality employers must pay

From 1 January 2026, the national minimum wage in Ireland is €14.15 an hour. That much most publicans and restaurant owners already know. The parts that catch hospitality employers out are the age rates, staff meals and accommodation, and the long list of payments that don't count when an inspector checks whether you've paid it. This guide covers all of that, with worked examples from a bar, a hotel kitchen and a café.

The 2026 rates at a glance

The rates come from the National Minimum Wage Order 2025 (S.I. No. 472 of 2025) and the percentages set under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. They apply to full-time, part-time, temporary, casual and seasonal employees. There's no lower rate for a "trial shift": the WRC and Citizens Information are both clear that work trials and unpaid placements must be paid at least the minimum wage.

The only people outside it are employees of a close relative (a spouse, civil partner or parent, for example) and people on a statutory apprenticeship. A family pub where your nephew pulls pints is not a close-relative exemption.

Age rates in practice

Age rates suit pubs and cafés that take on students, but they come with admin. You need proof of age on file, you need to move each person to the next rate on their birthday, and once someone turns 20 they get the full rate. Put birthdays in your staff records and check them before each pay run, not when a 19-year-old's mother rings in.

If you employ under-18s in a pub, there are separate rules on hours and late finishes under the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act 1996 and the WRC's code of practice for licensed premises. See our guide to young workers in licensed premises.

Budget 2027: €14.94 announced, not yet law

Budget 2027 announced that the adult rate will rise by 79 cent to €14.94 an hour from 1 January 2027. Citizens Information notes that the change requires legislation. Until a new National Minimum Wage Order is made and in force, €14.15 is the legal minimum.

It's still worth costing now. A part-timer on 30 hours a week at the minimum would cost €23.70 a week more in basic pay at €14.94, before employer PRSI. Run your own numbers in the labour cost calculator.

What counts as pay for the minimum wage

The test is an average. You take the employee's reckonable pay for the pay reference period, divide it by the hours they worked in that period, and the answer must be at least the minimum rate that applies to them.

Counts (reckonable):

• basic pay
• shift premiums
• fees, bonuses and commission
• service charges paid through payroll, but not a charge distributed under the Tips and Gratuities rules (section 4D(1) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991)
• zero hours payments
• board and lodgings, at the fixed values below

Doesn't count (non-reckonable):

• overtime premiums (the extra on top of the basic rate)
• premiums for Sundays, Saturdays and public holidays
• unsocial hours and call-out premiums
• on-call or standby allowances, and allowances for special duties
• tips paid directly to staff, and tips put into a central fund and paid through payroll
• sick pay, holiday pay and other pay for time not worked
• benefits in kind other than board and lodgings
• loans, advances and staff suggestion awards

Two of these trip up hospitality more than any other. First, the Sunday premium is a separate legal entitlement, so it can't prop up a basic rate that's below €14.15. Second, tips of any kind are out. Since 1 December 2022 the Tips and Gratuities Act also makes it unlawful to use tips to make up contractual pay at all. Our Tips and Gratuities Act guide covers the rest.

Board and lodgings

Hotels and some rural pubs still provide staff meals or a room. Where these are part of the pay package, you can count them at fixed values set by the 2025 Order:

These are the maximums. You can't count a higher figure because the room is good, and you can't count any other benefit in kind, such as uniforms, parking or a staff drink after close.

Working hours and the pay reference period

The hours you divide by are the longer of the hours in the employee's contract or statement of terms, or the hours they actually worked (or were available and paid for). Overtime hours count. So does approved training during normal hours. Time on standby away from the workplace, leave, and travel to and from work don't.

Every employer must pick a pay reference period for each employee: a week, a fortnight or a month, but no longer than a month. It must be in the employee's statement of terms (see our guide to the 5-day statement). Most hospitality businesses pay weekly, which keeps the average honest: a busy week can't mask a short one three weeks later.

An employee can ask in writing for a statement of their average hourly rate for any pay reference period in the last 12 months. You have four weeks to give it, in writing, with each element of reckonable pay listed separately.

Worked examples

These are illustrative examples, not real staff, to show how the test works in a pub, a hotel and a café.

Example 1: bar staff on a basic rate with a Sunday premium

Ciara is 23 and works 30 hours a week behind the bar on a basic rate of €13.50 an hour. Eight of her hours are on Sunday, and you pay a Sunday premium of €2 an hour. She also gets about €60 a week from the card tips pool.

• Reckonable pay: 30 hours × €13.50 = €405.00
• Sunday premium (€16) and tips (€60): not reckonable
• Average reckonable rate: €405.00 ÷ 30 = €13.50

She is underpaid by €0.65 an hour, or €19.50 a week, even though her total take-home looks well above €14.15 an hour. The fix is to raise the basic rate to at least €14.15 and pay the Sunday premium on top.

Example 2: chef with overtime

Tomás is a commis chef on €15.00 an hour. One week he works 45 hours, five of them at time and a half.

• Reckonable pay: 45 hours × €15.00 = €675.00 (the €37.50 overtime premium is left out)
• Average: €675.00 ÷ 45 = €15.00

That's above €14.15, so he's fine. Notice that the overtime hours count in the division but only at the basic rate.

Example 3: live-in hotel staff with board and lodgings

Marta works 39 hours a week in a hotel kitchen, gets her meals on shift and lives in staff accommodation.

• Minimum for the week: 39 × €14.15 = €551.85
• Board: 39 × €1.27 = €49.53
• Lodgings: €33.42
• Minimum cash pay: €551.85 − €49.53 − €33.42 = €468.90

Anything below €468.90 in cash wages that week is under the minimum, however generous the room feels.

Example 4: a 19-year-old in a café

Liam is 19 and works 20 hours a week. His minimum is 20 × €12.74 = €254.80. On his 20th birthday, his rate must move to €14.15, so the same 20 hours costs €283.00. Check birthdays before you run wages.

Records you must keep

The WRC says employers must keep records showing employees received the minimum wage, and keep them for three years. In practice that means:

• hours worked by each employee in each pay reference period, with start and finish times
• the rate and each element of pay, so reckonable and non-reckonable pay can be separated
• dates of birth for anyone on an age rate
• details of any board or lodgings counted

A WRC inspector checking minimum wage will match the hours to the pay. If your hours live in a WhatsApp thread and a diary, that's where a gap appears. Our guide to working time records and Form OWT1 explains the hours side.

Common mistakes in pubs, restaurants and hotels

• Counting the Sunday premium or tips to reach €14.15.
• Unpaid trial shifts. A trial is work and must be paid.
• Forgetting birthdays for 18 and 19-year-olds.
• Rounding hours down. If someone clocks out 40 minutes after close every night, those minutes are working hours.
• Paying the old rate in January. Each new order takes effect on the date it states, usually 1 January.
• Treating 2027 as settled. €14.94 is announced, not law, until the order is made.

How ShiftComplete helps

ShiftComplete is a roster and daily operations app for hospitality. It won't calculate pay, but it gives you clean hours to check pay against. Staff set their availability on their phones, you build a fair draft roster in seconds, and the published roster appears on every phone. Switch on clocking in, and staff clock in and out on their phone or the shared tablet. You see hours worked against the roster and can download a spreadsheet of clocked hours with a total per person to hand to whoever does your wages.

It costs €1.99 per active staff member per month, with every feature included. It's free for 60 days, with no card and no contract.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the WRC and Citizens Information for your situation.