National Minimum Wage
Written in plain language for general understanding. This is educational content, not legal advice. Based on Irish Acts of the Oireachtas, statutory instruments, and official guidance.
Irish National Law
What is this right?
Every employee in Ireland has the right to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW). As of January 2025, the adult rate is:
- Aged 20 and over: €13.50 per hour
- Aged 19: €12.15 per hour (90% of adult rate)
- Aged 18: €10.80 per hour (80% of adult rate)
- Under 18: €9.45 per hour (70% of adult rate)
Tips and gratuities cannot be used to make up the minimum wage (Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022). Your employer must pay the minimum rate on top of any tips you receive.
When does it apply?
- You are an employee — this includes full-time, part-time, temporary, and casual workers.
- Apprentices registered with SOLAS are not covered during the apprenticeship period.
- Close family members employed on a farm or in a household where they also live are exempt.
- If you are in structured training during your first two years of employment, reduced sub-minimum rates may apply, but your employer must document this.
What should you do?
- Check your payslip — divide your gross pay by the hours you worked. Your employer must give you a written payslip under the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
- If you are underpaid, raise it with your employer first — it may be a payroll error.
- If that fails, contact the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) — you can make a complaint online at workplacerelations.ie or call the WRC information line.
- A WRC adjudicator can order your employer to pay arrears going back up to 6 years.
- You are protected from penalisation (dismissal or punishment) for asserting your minimum wage rights.
What should you NOT do?
- Don't agree to be paid below minimum wage — any such agreement is void, even if you sign it.
- Don't assume tips count — since the Tips Act 2022, tips must be distributed fairly and cannot subsidise your basic pay.
- Don't ignore deductions — if your employer deducts for uniforms, tools, or breakages, these deductions can illegally bring your pay below the minimum wage.
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