Know Your Rights: Citizens Information summary on the Minimum Wage

17 January 2025
By Bryan McCarthy
bryan@TheCork.ie

Know Your Rights: Citizens Information summary on the Minimum Wage

Generally, the amount of pay you get for working is agreed between you and your employer. Pay negotiations normally happen when you get a job offer.

However, most employees are entitled to a minimum wage under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.

From 1 January 2025, the national minimum wage for people aged 20 and over will increase by 80 cents to €13.50 per hour. If you are aged under 20 you may get sub-minimum rates.

The national minimum wage does not stop an employer from offering you a higher wage. You cannot agree to be paid less than the minimum wage or to do unpaid work unless you are employed by a close family relative or are on a recognised apprenticeship.

Employees in certain sectors have other minimum rates of pay, for example, the security and cleaning sectors. The rules for these sectors are set out in Employment agreements and orders made by Joint Labour Committees.

Even if the hourly pay rates are set out in an Employment Regulation Order (ERO), an employer must pay their employees at least the legal minimum wage.

What counts as pay?

For the minimum wage, your gross wage (your total pay before any money is deducted, such as tax or pension contributions) includes:

• Your normal basic pay
• Any shift premium
• Any fee, bonus or commission
• Service charges given through the payroll
• Zero Hours payments

If you get food (known as board) or accommodation (known as lodgings) from your employer, the following amounts are included in the minimum wage calculation:

• Board rates: €1.14 an hour
• Lodging rates: €30 a week or €4.28 a day

Employers must pay a minimum wage to work experience placements, work trials, internships and any other employment practice involving unpaid work or working for room and board.

How is my hourly rate calculated?

Your hourly rate is calculated by dividing your gross pay by the total number of hours you have worked. However, it must be clear:

• What pay is included
• Which hours are included as working hours
• The pay reference period (whether you are paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly)

How are my Working hours calculated?

Your working hours are whichever is longer between:

• The number of hours set out in any document, such as your employment contract, collective agreement, or statement of terms of employment given to you under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994-2014 (as amended)
• The actual number of hours you worked or were available for work and get paid for

Your working hours include overtime and travel time where this is part of the job. Time spent on training that your employer approved and during normal working hours, is also included.

Your working hours do not include the time you are:

• On standby other than at the workplace
• On leave, lay-off, strike, or after payment instead of notice
• Travelling to or from work

Pay reference period

Your employer selects the period, known as the pay reference period, to calculate the average hourly pay – for example, a week, fortnight, or month (but no longer than a month).

Your employer must include details of the pay reference period in your statement of employment conditions, as set out in the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994-2014 (as amended).

You can ask your employer for a written statement of your average rate of pay for any pay reference period within the last 12 months. The employer has 4 weeks to give you the statement.

What does not count as pay?

When calculating the minimum wage, do not include:

• Overtime premium
• Call-out premium
• Unsocial hours premium
• Premiums for working public holidays, Saturdays or Sundays
• Allowances for special or additional duties
• On-call or standby allowances
• Service pay (tips paid directly to you)
• Tips placed in a central fund and paid as part of your wages
• Certain payments you get when absent from work, for example sick pay, holiday pay or pay during health and safety leave
• Payments you get when leaving your job, including on retirement
• Contributions paid by your employer into any occupational pension scheme available to you
• Redundancy payments
• An advance payment of, for example, your salary. The advance is taken into account for the period you would normally have got it
• Payment-in-kind or benefit-in-kind (except board or lodgings)
• Payment not connected with your employment
• Compensation for injury or loss of tools
• An award as part of a staff suggestion scheme
• A loan given to you by your employer

Are some workers not entitled to minimum wage?

You are not entitled to get the national minimum wage if you are:

• Employed by a close relative (for example, a spouse, civil partner or parent)
• In a statutory apprenticeship
• Aged under 20 

What are the current minimum rates of pay?

It was announced in Budget 2025 that the minimum wage will increase from 1 January 2025. The national minimum wage for people aged 20 and over will increase by 80 cents to €13.50 per hour.

What happens if my employer cannot pay me the minimum wage?

If your employer cannot afford to pay the minimum wage due to financial difficulty, the Labour Court can give them permission, or exempt them from paying the minimum wage rate for between 3 months and one year. Only one exemption is allowed.

The employer must apply to the Labour Court for the exemption, and they must have the agreement of a majority of employees. The employer and the employees must all agree to follow the decision of the Labour Court.

The employer must show that they are unable to pay the minimum wage and that if they had to pay it, they would need to lay off or dismiss employees.

Employers can only be exempt from paying the full rate of the minimum wage. They cannot be exempt from paying the reduced rate (for example, to employees under 18).

What are my options if I feel that I am vitimised by my employer for requesting the minimum wage?

If you ask your employer to pay the minimum wage, you are protected by law from victimisation or dismissal.

If you are dismissed for asking for the minimum wage, you can bring a claim for unfair dismissal. You can do this no matter how long you have worked for your employer or how many hours you work each week.

If you are due an increase under the National Minimum Wage Act, your employer may try to cut your working hours to avoid an increase in the overall cost of your pay. However, they cannot do this without also reducing your duties or the amount of work.

How to make a complaint if I do not receive the minimum wage to which I am entitled?

If you are not getting the minimum wage, you should speak with your employer first.

If you cannot resolve the problem with your employer, you can complete the online complaint form on workplacerelations.ie.

This form gives you 2 options, you can:

1. Request an investigation by an inspector from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The inspector will investigate your claim that the minimum wage is not being paid.
2. Refer a dispute to a WRC adjudicator. However, you can only do this after asking your employer for a statement outlining the calculation of the average hourly pay. You must refer the dispute within 6 months of getting the statement. If necessary, the time limit can be extended to a maximum of 12 months. Where your employer has not given you the statement, the time starts from the date they should have (that is, within 4 weeks of the request).

You cannot refer a complaint about the same dispute to both an adjudicator and an inspector. This is set out in the National Minimum Wage Act.

If you are alleging victimisation, you should ask your employer to bring back your working conditions to how they were before the victimisation occurred.

If your employer does not do this within 2 weeks of you asking, you can refer your case to the WRC adjudicator. You must do this within 6 months of the alleged victimisation (which may be extended to a maximum of 12 months).

What is the Living wage for all?

A national living wage will replace the national minimum wage from 2026. The living wage will be set at 60% of the median wage in any given year.

The national minimum wage will remain in place until the 60% living wage is fully phased in. The national minimum wage will increase over the years as usual.

John Beausang and Yvonne Rayner, Cork City’s Citizens Information Managers, said,

Our telephone lines in Cork City are monitored from 10am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday. In addition, the Cork City Centre CIC in Cornmarket Street is open to the public Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 9.45am to 1pm and Wednesdays from 2pm to 4.30pm. The Blackpool CIC is open to the public each morning from 10am to 4pm, Tuesday and Thursday. Full details for all Citizens Information Centres and their opening times are available on our website.