Minimum Wage

The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 provides that the minimum wage rate for an experienced adult employee from 1 July 2007 is €8.65 an hour, (was €8.30). An experienced adult for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act is an employee who has an employment of any kind in any 2 years over the age of 18.

There are some exceptions to those entitled to receive the national minimum wage. The legislation does not apply to a person employed by a close relative (for example, a spouse or parent) nor does it apply to those in statutory apprenticeships. Also some employees such as young people under 18 and trainees are only guaranteed a reduced or sub-minimum rate of the national minimum wage.

The National Minimum Wage Act provides the following sub-minimum rates:

-An employee who is under 18 is entitled to €6.06 per hour (this is 70% of the minimum wage)
-An employee who is in the first year of employment since the age of 18 is entitled to €6.92 per hour (80% of minimum wage)
-An employee who is in the second year of employment since the date of first employment over the age of 18 is entitled to €7.79 per hour (90% of the minimum wage)

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is not recognised in employment law in Ireland. In other words, employers are not obliged to grant male employees special paternity leave (either paid or unpaid) following the birth of their child. Annual leave taken following the birth of a child is treated in employment law in the same way as leave taken at any other time of the year. It is at the discretion of the employer to decide who can and cannot take annual leave at a given time.

While male employees are not entitled under Irish law to either paid or unpaid paternity leave, they may be entitled to parental leave. Parental leave entitles both parents who qualify to take a period of up to 14 weeks' unpaid leave from employment in respect of children up to eight years of age.

How is my Maternity Benefit Calculated?

If you are employed, your weekly rate of Maternity Benefit is calculated by dividing your gross income in the relevant tax year by the number of weeks you actually worked in that year. Eighty percent (80%) of this amount is payable weekly, subject to a minimum payment and a maximum payment. (The Relevant Tax Year is the second last complete income tax year before the year in which your maternity leave starts.

Rates of payment from January 2010:

Maternity Benefit     Weekly rate

Maximum payment       €270
Minimum payment        €225.80

Annual Leave Entitlements

Your entitlement to annual leave or holidays from work in is set out in legislation and in your contract of employment, legislation gives various entitlements to leave from work. These include annual leave, public holidays, maternity leave, adoptive leave, carer's leave, parental leave and other types of leave from work.

The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 provides for a basic annual paid leave entitlement of 4 weeks, although an employee's contract could give greater rights.

There are 3 different ways of calculating your annual leave entitlement:

-Based on the employee's working hours during what is called the leave year, which runs from April to March. An employee who has worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year (that is, an average working week of 26.25 hours) is entitled to the maximum of 4 weeks' annual leave. Many employers use the calendar year (January-December) instead of the official leave year to calculate entitlement.
-By allowing 1/3 of a working week for each calendar month in which the employee has worked at least 117 hours
-8% of the hours worked in the leave year, subject to a maximum of 4 weeks

An employee may use whichever of these methods gives the greater entitlement.
An employee who has worked for at least 8 months is entitled to an unbroken period of 2 weeks' annual leave.

Losingyourjob.ie

Losingyourjob.ie is essential for all those either currently unemployed or soon to be unemployed. The site provides invaluable information on the following topics

-Reduced Hours of Pay
-Leaving Work
-Getting Social welfare
-Money & Tax Issues
-Help with your Rent or Mortgage
-Options for Education and Training
-Going Back to Work
- Leaving Ireland

I have reviewed all sections of this site, and highly recommend you forward details to all your friends and colleagues regardless of their situation, we all should be aware, and know what options are available to us and what our rights are.

Please leave your queries or comments using the comments link below.

What should my Contract of Employment Include?

The Terms of Employment (Information) Acts 1994 and 2001 provide that an employer is obliged to provide an employee with a written statement of terms of employment within the first two months of the commencement of employment.

The statement of terms must include the following information:

-The full name of employer and employee
-The address of the employer
-The place of work
-The title of job or nature of work
-The date the employment started
-If the contract is temporary, the expected duration of the contract
-If the contract of employment is for a fixed term, the details
-Details of rest periods and breaks as required by law
-*The rate of pay or method of calculation of pay
-The pay reference period for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000
-*Pay intervals
-*Hours of work
-*That the employee has the right to ask the employer for a written statement of his/her average hourly rate of pay as provided for in the National Minimum Wage Act 2000
-*Details of paid leave
-*Sick pay and pension (if any)
-*Period of notice to be given by employer or employee
-*Details of any collective agreements that may affect the employee’s terms of employment

What are the Income Levy Rates for Tax Year 2010?

From 1 January 2010 Income levy rates are as follows:

2% on income up to €75,036
4% on income from €75,037 to €174,980
6% on income above €174,980.

If your income is greater than the minimum threshold of €15,028 per year or €289 per week, you pay the levy on the full amount of your income. (If you are aged 65 or over the minimum threshold is €20,000 per year for a single person and €40,000 per year for a couple).