Ireland Employment law round-up: What’s ahead for employers

As we approach the final quarter of 2025, several significant employment law developments are on the horizon that will impact Irish employers across sectors. 

From pension auto-enrolment to gender pay gap reporting and the Pay Transparency Directive, it is essential for organisations to prepare proactively. 

Below is a summary of the key updates and practical steps employers should consider.

Pension auto-enrolment deadline approaches

The automatic enrolment retirement savings scheme will commence on 1 January 2026 (unless it is postponed further). All employees between the age of 23 and 60, who earn at least €20,000 and who are not in exempt employment, will be automatically enrolled.  

Employers, employees and the State will make contributions based on a percentage of an employee’s total remuneration subject to cap of €80,000. The contributions will increase on a phased basis. For years one to three, employers will make a contribution of 1.5%, the employee will also contribute 1.5% and the State contribution will be 0.5%.  
Employers should inform employees when they are first enrolled on to the scheme. 

Importantly, an employee will be in exempt employment if they (or their employer) contribute to a qualifying pension arrangement which includes occupational pension schemes and personal retirement savings accounts. 

As there are different approaches to compliance with auto-enrolment, for employers who have not done already, it is important to carry out a review of the available options, carry out a cost analysis and consider the compliance burden of having auto-enrolement running in parallel with a company pension scheme. It is useful to carry out a benchmarking exercise to see what other employers in the same sector are doing. 

Once an employer has considered the best course of action, it should communicate with employees and update contracts of employment, and relevant policies as appropriate. Some employers have decided to amend employment contracts to make it a condition of employment that new employees join the company occupational pension plan on a day one basis. Before any such approach is decided, it is important that there is alignment with the pension scheme rules and that there are no logistical problems with payroll in applying pension contributions on this basis. 

Gender Pay Gap reporting – November deadline

The Gender Pay Gap reporting threshold has reduced from 150 to 50 employees bringing a lot more employers into the net. 

All employers with 50 or more employees should now publish their gender pay gap report by November, being five months after the June snapshot date. 

Given this deadline is fast approaching, employers should ensure they are prepared.  For employers who are in scope for the first time, it is important that the technical and practical points are fully considered and that the communication and presentation of the pay gap report is given due attention.

Pay Transparency Directive

The Pay Transparency Directive will be transposed into national law by June 7, 2026. Employers will be required to:

• provide salary ranges in job adverts
• prohibiting salary history questions 
• give employees the right to information on their pay and comparable colleagues' pay

In addition, employers with a gender pay gap of over 5% that cannot be explained by objective criteria must conduct a joint pay assessment and implement an action plan. 

In advance of the June 2026 deadline, employer should consider appropriate salary bands/ranges and remove any pay history questions from application forms and job interviews. 

It is also advisable to conduct an audit of internal pay practices. There will likely be an increase in gender pay discrimination claims in light of this new legislation.

Socio-economic disadvantage 

The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 proposes adding "socio-economic disadvantage" as a protected ground under the Employment Equality and Equal Status legislation. The definition is broad and includes level of education, accent, and home address. 

The proposed legislation has the potential to substantially widen the scope of employment equality claims against employers.

The bill is currently at second stage, before Seanad Éireann. 

Redundancies

Given the ongoing geopolitical uncertainties and changes in innovation, especially due to the increase in the use of AI, there will inevitably be more redundancies in the months ahead but also new roles and opportunities.  

It is important that redundancy is considered a matter of last resort and that there is a meaningful consultation process before any decision is made to implement a redundancy.

How we can help 

Our integrated experience and expertise covers the entire life cycle of employment issues, from recruitment and contracts to compromise agreements and post-termination restrictions.

If you would like tailored advice or support on any of the topics outlined above, please contact our Employment law team. We are here to help you navigate these changes with confidence and clarity.