Work

Steps

1. Look for a job. Vacancies on JobsIreland.ie (the public jobs website, linked to the Intreo services), advice in the Intreo centres (public employment and benefits service), recruitment agencies, company websites. The European portal EURES also publishes Irish vacancies.
2. Compare your qualification. NARIC Ireland (hosted by QQI) provides, free of charge online, a database of comparability statements (more than 2,000 qualifications from more than 160 countries) that place your qualification on the Irish qualifications framework; if yours is not there, you can request an opinion. These statements are generic and not personalised: it is an opinion, not a decision, and the employer remains free.
3. Regulated profession? Recognition is handled by the Irish authority for the profession, for example CORU (health and social care professions), the NMBI (nurses and midwives), the Teaching Council for teachers. NARIC Ireland does not handle these cases.
   • Teachers: registration with the Teaching Council goes through its My Registration portal. You must be fully qualified in your country (teacher training and, if your country requires it, an induction period), with a letter from that country's competent authority. The Council compares your training with Irish programmes and may impose conditions (aptitude test or adaptation period, in principle within 3 years); primary teachers always have the Irish language requirement (Irish Language Requirement), secondary teachers the exam on the history and structure of the Irish education system. Documents in English or Irish (certified translation otherwise). Processing takes up to 12 weeks after the complete file; appeal possible within 21 days. Fees (Teaching Council page consulted on 23 October 2026): €200 for recognition of the qualification (a further €100 per subject at secondary level), €90 for registration, €65 a year thereafter. Registration is only finalised after the background check (vetting), a character reference and proof of English level. A temporary scheme (Timebound Provision) for teachers who did not complete induction in their country accepts applications from 22 October 2025 until 30 December 2027 (23:59): you must have completed your teacher training and submitted a complete file before that date (Teaching Council).
4. Before the first day: apply for your PPS number (sheet IE-NIF-TOUS-001) and have your job registered with Revenue (if it is your first job in Ireland, you add it yourself in myAccount on revenue.ie; for later ones, your employer does it), otherwise your first pay is hit by emergency tax (sheet IE-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).
5. Check your paperwork within the deadlines. Within 5 days: names and address of the employer, place of work, start date, position, length of the contract if temporary, pay and pay period, normal hours, length and conditions of the probationary period, overtime. Within a month: leave, sick leave, pension, notice, collective agreements, training.
6. Supplementary pension: if you are between 23 and 60, earn at least €20,000 a year and have no occupational pension, you have been automatically enrolled in MyFutureFund since 1 January 2026. You can opt out between the 6th and 8th month.
7. A problem (pay, leave, contract)? Talk to your employer first, then refer it to the WRC (Workplace Relations Commission, the labour inspectorate and tribunal) online at workplacerelations.ie.

Documents

• Passport or ID card (proof of your right to work).
• PPS number, then registration of the job in myAccount.
• CV in English, qualifications and, if needed, NARIC Ireland comparability statement; for a regulated profession, registration with the profession's authority.

Costs and timelines

• Hourly minimum wage (since 1 January 2026): €14.15 at 20 and over; €12.74 at 19; €11.32 at 18; €9.91 under 18. Budget 2027 announces €14.94 on 1 January 2027 for those aged 20 and over (still to be voted). Some sectors have their own minimums, set by Sectoral Employment Orders or Employment Regulation Orders (WRC).
• Working time: 48 hours per week on average at most, generally calculated over 4 months (6 months for seasonal work or a foreseeable peak in activity, 12 months with a collective agreement approved by the Labour Court).
• Paid leave: 4 working weeks a year if you have worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year (1 April to 31 March); otherwise 8% of the hours worked, or a third of a week per month in which you worked at least 117 hours (the most favourable method applies); paid in advance at normal pay. After 8 months, entitlement to 2 weeks in a row. Public holidays: sheet IE-VIE-TOUS-001.
• Statutory sick leave (Statutory Sick Pay): 5 days paid per year, at 70% of normal pay, €110 per day at most, after 13 weeks with the employer and with a medical certificate (WRC page updated 9 April 2025: 5 days in 2024 and in 2025; the number of days is set by the Minister: check on workplacerelations.ie which applies in 2026).
• Probationary period: 6 months at most, extendable up to 12 months in all in exceptional cases (since 1 August 2022).
• Notice of resignation: that of the contract; failing that, one week at the statutory minimum; no statutory notice if you have less than 13 weeks of service and the contract does not provide for any.
• MyFutureFund (years 1 to 3, that is 2026 to 2028): 1.5% of your salary, the same for the employer, plus 0.5% from the State; up to 6% each from the 10th year.
• Recognition by NARIC Ireland: free.

Common pitfalls

• Starting without a PPS number. Emergency tax is certain on your first pays; you get the overpayment back, but later.
• Signing a non-compete clause without reading it. Get advice before or after signing (Citizens Information advises a solicitor). However, your employer cannot forbid you a second job without an objective reason (safety, confidentiality, conflict of interest).
• Dismissal during probation. The unfair dismissal law does not apply during a probationary period of one year at most provided for in writing (except protected grounds such as pregnancy or trade union activity).
• Confusing comparison and authorisation to practise. The NARIC statement is not enough for a regulated profession.
• Believing tips count towards the minimum wage. Tips, Sunday or night premiums and increased overtime pay are not included in the calculation.
• Figures change on 1 January. Minimum wage, taxes and contributions move every year with the budget.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens, Swiss citizens: free to work, no permit. Your non-European family can apply for a residence permit that allows them to work (Stamp 4EUFAM, sheet IE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001).
• British citizens (Scots included): free to work thanks to the Common Travel Area, with no immigration formalities at all.
• Contributions in your former country: they may count towards your Irish entitlements (unemployment, pension): sheets IE-TRAVAIL-TOUS-002 and IE-RETRAITE-TOUS-002.
• Employee posted by your foreign employer: you can remain affiliated to your country's social security (form A1), for a posting of 24 months at most (Regulation (EC) 883/2004, art. 12); the A1 certificate is issued by your country's fund: request it with your employer.