Zero-hours contracts and banded hours in Irish hospitality

Hospitality runs on flexible hours. A wedding in the function room, a match on a Tuesday, a wet August that empties the beer garden. For years that flexibility was handled with "we'll call you" contracts. Ireland tightened the rules in 2018: zero-hours contracts are banned in most cases, staff called in and sent home get a minimum payment, and staff whose contracts understate their real hours can ask to be banded. This guide explains each rule for pubs, restaurants, cafés and hotels.

What changed in 2018

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 rewrote section 18 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and added a new section 18A on banded hours. The banded hours and minimum payment rules have applied since 4 March 2019. The WRC enforces them, and failing to pay zero hours compensation is one of the contraventions an inspector can issue a compliance notice for.

When zero-hours contracts are allowed

Where a contract sets a number of hours, the number must be greater than zero. Citizens Information lists three situations where zero hours is still allowed:

1. Work of a casual nature
2. Work done in emergency circumstances
3. Short-term relief work to cover routine absences for that employer

In a hospitality setting:

If someone works for you every week on a pattern, they aren't casual. Put the hours they actually work in their contract and 5-day statement (see our 5-day statement guide).

The 25% or 15 hours rule

This applies to an employee whose contract requires them to be available for work, whether for set contract hours, "as and when required", or both. If you don't give them at least 25% of the hours they were required to be available for in a week, they're entitled to be paid for 25% of those hours or 15 hours, whichever is less.

Examples, adapted from the WRC and Citizens Information:

• A waiter required to be available for 20 hours gets no work that week. They're paid as if they'd worked 5 hours (25% of 20 is less than 15).
• The same waiter gets 3 hours that week. They're paid for 5 hours, bringing them up to 25%.
• A porter required to be available for 48 hours gets no work. 25% is 12 hours, which is less than 15, so they're paid 12 hours.
• A chef required to be available for 80 hours across two kitchens gets nothing. 25% would be 20, so the 15-hour cap applies.

Where there are no set contract hours, the 25% is worked out against the hours done that week by another employee doing the same kind of work (the highest of them, if there's more than one).

When the 25% rule doesn't apply

• lay-off or short-time
• exceptional circumstances or an emergency beyond your control that couldn't be avoided with due care
• the employee wasn't available anyway, for example through illness
• being on call (available to deal with emergencies that may or may not happen) isn't the same as being required to be available
• a contract that already pays the employee simply for being available

A storm that closes the coast road and empties a seafront restaurant is the kind of event the exception was written for. A quiet Tuesday isn't.

Called in and sent home: €42.45

The WRC explains that where an employee is called in to work and doesn't get the expected hours, there's a minimum payment of 3 times the national minimum hourly rate, or 3 times the rate in an Employment Regulation Order if one covers the job. It applies on each occasion.

At the 2026 rate, that's 3 × €14.15 = €42.45. The WRC's own example is an employee called in and sent home after one hour.

A typical case: you roster a kitchen porter for a 6-hour Saturday shift, a coach party cancels, and you send him home at 7.30pm after an hour. The minimum payment is €42.45 on that occasion. If you're unsure how the rules apply to a particular week, the WRC's information service can help.

The real fix is a roster that doesn't need cutting. If staff set their availability ahead and you plan around known events, there are fewer Saturdays where you over-staff and send people home.

Casual workers

Casual staff don't get the zero hours compensation just because they expected work. Being called in now and then doesn't create a right to be paid for weeks you don't call them. But once you ask a casual worker to be available for a period, or call them in, the protections apply for that period.

In practice: if you text your casuals on Monday asking them to keep Saturday free and then don't use them, you may owe the payment. If you simply don't ring them, you don't.

Banded hours: bands A to H

Banded hours deal with a different problem: a contract that says 10 hours when someone has worked 25 every week for a year. Under section 18A, an employee whose contract or statement of terms doesn't reflect the hours they've actually worked can ask to be placed in a band based on their average weekly hours.

How a request works

1. The employee asks in writing to be placed in a band.
2. You work out their average weekly hours over the reference period: the 12 months of employment immediately before the request.
3. You place them in the matching band from a date no later than 4 weeks after the request.
4. They're then entitled to hours averaging within that band for at least 12 months.

Example (illustrative): Rebecca's contract says 10 hours. Your clock-in records show she averaged 23.5 hours a week over the last 12 months. She asks in writing; you place her in band E (21 to under 26 hours) within four weeks.

Grounds for refusing

You can refuse where:

• there's no evidence supporting the hours claimed
• there have been significant adverse changes to the business during or after the reference period
• emergency circumstances apply
• the hours were affected by a temporary situation that no longer exists (a summer surge or covering a long-term absence, for example)

Banded arrangements agreed through collective bargaining are outside the rule. If you refuse unreasonably or don't act within four weeks, the employee can complain to the WRC. The adjudication officer can order you to place them in the band but can't award compensation for this breach.

Notice of hours still applies

Separately, section 17 of the Organisation of Working Time Act says that where a contract doesn't fix start and finish times, staff must be told their start and finish times at least 24 hours in advance, including 24 hours' notice of the hours for each day they work and of any extra hours, except in unexpected cases such as covering sickness. See our guide to roster notice and changes.

A checklist for flexible hospitality contracts

• No regular staff on "0 hours" contracts
• Casual, emergency or relief use recorded as such
• Contract hours in every 5-day statement that reflect real patterns
• A note of every occasion someone was called in and sent home, and what you paid
• Weekly hours per person kept for at least 12 months, ready for a banding request
• Rosters published at least 24 hours ahead

How ShiftComplete helps

Banding requests, zero hours compensation and minimum payments all come back to one question: how many hours did this person really work? ShiftComplete keeps that answer. Staff clock in and out on their phone or the shared tablet, you see hours worked against the roster, and you can download hours per person as a spreadsheet. Staff set availability on their phones ahead of time, so you build rosters around who's actually free and publish them to every phone well before the 24-hour deadline.

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

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the WRC for your circumstances.