Annual Leave Entitlement in Ireland: Days, Public Holidays and How to Calculate It (2026)

Most employees in Ireland are entitled to 4 working weeks of paid annual leave a year, which is 20 days for someone who works five days a week, plus 10 public holidays. The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 gives three ways to calculate it (the 1,365-hour rule, the 117-hours-a-month rule and 8% of hours worked), and the employee gets whichever comes out highest.

These are the rules as of 2026.

How many holidays do you get in Ireland?

The legal minimum is 4 working weeks of annual leave (section 19 of the Act) plus benefit for each of the 10 public holidays (section 21). For a full-time employee on a five-day week that is 20 days of annual leave and 10 public holidays, so 30 paid days off a year. Contracts can give more.

A "working week" means the number of days you usually work in a week (section 19(6)). If you work three days a week, four working weeks is 12 days. If you work three 10-hour days, it is 12 days of 10 hours, or 120 hours.

How is annual leave calculated in Ireland?

Section 19(1) sets out three methods. You work out each one that applies and the employee gets the greatest result:

Method	Rule	Limit
1. The 1,365-hour rule	4 working weeks in a leave year in which you work at least 1,365 hours	Not available in a leave year in which you change employment
2. The monthly rule	One-third of a working week for each calendar month in which you work at least 117 hours	Up to 4 working weeks over 12 months
3. The 8% rule	8% of the hours you work in the leave year	Capped at 4 working weeks

Three details matter most:

• Leave counts as time worked. A day of annual leave counts as the hours you would have worked that day (section 19(5)). Certified sick, maternity, adoptive, paternity, parental and force majeure leave, and the first 13 weeks of carer's leave, count too.
• The statutory leave year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Many employers use the calendar year instead, which doesn't change the entitlement. See when your leave year should start.
• Layoff is different. You don't build up annual leave during layoff, but you keep the leave you earned before it.

What does 1,365 hours mean for annual leave?

1,365 hours is the threshold for Method 1. If you work at least 1,365 hours in the leave year, and you didn't change jobs during it, you get the full 4 working weeks with no further maths. A full-time employee on 39 hours a week passes it in about 35 weeks. If you fall short, Methods 2 and 3 still apply.

Worked examples

1. Full-time, whole year. Aoife works 39 hours over five days, 1 April to 31 March. Her hours, with leave counted as worked, come to about 2,028. That is over 1,365, so Method 1 gives 4 working weeks: 20 days.

2. Part-time, three days a week. Ciarán works three 8-hour days (24 hours a week) all year: about 1,248 hours. Method 1 fails (under 1,365) and Method 2 fails (about 104 hours a month, under 117). Method 3 gives 8% of 1,248 = 99.8 hours, but it is capped at 4 working weeks, which for him is 12 days × 8 hours = 96 hours. He gets 12 days (96 hours).

3. Joiner mid-year. Niamh starts full-time on 1 September, 39 hours a week, in an April-to-March leave year. Method 1 isn't available because she changed employment. Method 2: seven months of at least 117 hours × one-third of a week = 2.33 weeks, about 11.7 days. Method 3: about 30 weeks × 39 = 1,170 hours × 8% = 93.6 hours, which is 12 days of 7.8 hours. Method 3 is higher, so she gets 12 days.

To run your own numbers, use the annual leave calculator, or read our general guide to pro-rata holiday entitlement.

What are the public holidays in Ireland in 2026?

Ireland has 10 public holidays. St Brigid's Day was added in 2023; it falls on the first Monday in February, or on 1 February when that is a Friday. Good Friday is not a public holiday.

Public holiday	2026
New Year's Day	Thursday 1 January
St Brigid's Day	Monday 2 February
St Patrick's Day	Tuesday 17 March
Easter Monday	Monday 6 April
May bank holiday	Monday 4 May
June bank holiday	Monday 1 June
August bank holiday	Monday 3 August
October bank holiday	Monday 26 October
Christmas Day	Friday 25 December
St Stephen's Day	Saturday 26 December

St Stephen's Day 2026 falls on a Saturday. You are still entitled to benefit for it, but you have no automatic right to the following Monday off. Holiday calendars for other countries are on our public holidays page.

What is public holiday benefit, and who chooses it?

For each public holiday, the employer decides which of these four the employee gets (section 21(1)):

1. a paid day off on the day,
2. a paid day off within a month of the day,
3. an extra day of annual leave,
4. an extra day's pay.

An employee can ask, at least 21 days before the holiday, which option will apply. The employer must answer at least 14 days before it. If they don't, the employee gets the public holiday itself as a paid day off (section 21(2)–(3)).

Full-time employees qualify immediately. Other employees qualify once they have worked at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks ending the day before the holiday (section 21(4)); annual leave in that period counts as time worked.

Public holiday entitlement for part-time workers in Ireland

Once the 40-hours-in-5-weeks test is met:

• The holiday falls on a day you normally work: you get paid for the day off, or an extra day's pay if you have to work it.
• The holiday falls on a day you don't work: you get one-fifth of your weekly pay, even if you never work public holidays.

Can you carry over annual leave in Ireland?

Annual leave should be taken within the leave year. With the employee's consent it can be taken within the 6 months after the leave year ends (section 20(1)(c)). Carrying over beyond that is a matter for agreement between employer and employee.

There is one statutory exception. If long-term illness stopped you taking leave, it can be carried over for up to 15 months after the end of the year in which it was earned. If you leave the job within those 15 months, it must be paid out. More on how carry-over and accrual interact in holiday carry-over and leave accrual explained.

Other rules employers often get wrong

• When leave is taken. The employer sets the times, but must take account of family responsibilities and rest, and consult the employee at least 1 month beforehand (section 20(1)).
• Two weeks in a row. Anyone who works 8 or more months in the leave year is entitled to an unbroken 2 weeks (section 19(3)), unless an agreement says otherwise.
• Holiday pay. It is paid in advance at the normal weekly rate (section 20(2)). If pay varies with commission or bonuses, Citizens Information says to average the 13 weeks before the leave.
• Sick on holiday. Days covered by a medical certificate don't count as annual leave (section 19(2)), and the employee takes them later.
• Leaving the job. Untaken leave for the current year is paid out. If the employee leaves in the first half of the leave year, so is any untaken leave from the previous year (section 23(1)).
• Complaints go to the Workplace Relations Commission within 6 months (12 with reasonable cause).

Tracking Irish leave without a spreadsheet

If you run a team in Ireland, Absenca lets each office set its own leave-year start month (April, if you follow the statutory year), its public holiday calendar and a carry-over expiry. The Free plan covers up to 10 people.

FAQ

How many days annual leave am I entitled to in Ireland? 4 working weeks: 20 days if you work five days a week, 16 for four days, 12 for three. On top of that come the 10 public holidays.

Do I get annual leave if I work part-time? Yes. Part-time, temporary and casual workers all build up leave, usually at 8% of the hours they work, capped at 4 of their own working weeks.

Can my employer pay me instead of giving me annual leave? The Act requires the leave to be granted, and payment for untaken leave is set out only for when employment ends (section 23). An employer can always give more than the minimum.

Does annual leave build up while I'm on sick leave or maternity leave? Yes, for certified sick leave, maternity, paternity, adoptive, parental and force majeure leave, and the first 13 weeks of carer's leave.

This is general guidance based on the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and Citizens Information, checked in October 2026. Rules change and individual contracts or agreements may differ, so check the official source (Citizens Information or the Workplace Relations Commission) for your situation.