If a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) inspector walked into your restaurant tomorrow, would your paperwork survive the visit? For a growing number of Irish food businesses, that is no longer a hypothetical. The WRC has put hospitality squarely in its sights, and the cost of getting employment law wrong now runs to recovered wages, prosecutions and a name on a public list.
This checklist is for the owner-operator who does their own admin and has never had time to read an employment contract twice. It covers the core things you must have in place — written terms, the right rate of pay, sick leave, holidays and records — so you can stay compliant, treat your team properly, and sleep through inspection season.
Key takeaways
- The WRC carried out 5,596 workplace inspection visits in 2025, and food service activities were named a sector with relatively high non-compliance (DETE, 2026; CKT, 2026).
- Every employee must get five core terms of employment in writing within five days of starting, and a full written statement within two months (WRC, 2018).
- The national minimum wage is €14.15 per hour for workers aged 20 and over from 1 January 2026 (gov.ie, 2026).
- Staff get 5 paid sick days a year, 4 working weeks of annual leave and 10 public holidays — and you must keep records for 3 years.
- Getting one core area wrong can cost more than a year of doing the paperwork right: the WRC recovered €1,578,924 in unpaid wages in 2025.
Why employment-law compliance just got riskier for Irish restaurants
The enforcement numbers are the wake-up call. In 2025 the WRC carried out 5,596 individual workplace inspection visits, closed 5,145 inspection cases, and found 1,775 employers in breach of employment law (DETE, 2026). That is roughly one in three inspected workplaces with something wrong.
It did not stop at warnings. The Commission conducted 223 prosecutions, of which 183 resulted in successful outcomes — an 82% success rate — and its Inspectorate recovered €1,578,924 in unpaid wages over the year (DETE, 2026).
Most importantly for you: the 2025 report named food service activities (alongside hair and beauty) as a sector with relatively high levels of non-compliance (CKT, 2026). Restaurants, cafés and takeaways are not being inspected by accident — high staff turnover, casual hours and cash-flow pressure make hospitality a known risk area, so it gets visited more often.
The good news is that nearly everything an inspector checks is fixable with a few hours of admin. Here is what to put right.
The Irish restaurant employment law compliance checklist
Work through these six areas. None of them needs a solicitor for the basics — they need someone to actually do them and keep the proof.
1. Give every employee written terms of employment
This is the single most common gap in small food businesses, and the easiest one to fix. Under the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018, you must give each new employee a written statement of five core terms within five days of them starting work, and a full written statement of terms within two months (WRC, 2018).
The five core terms are: the full names of employer and employee, the employer's address, the expected duration of the contract, the rate or method of calculating pay, and the expected working hours per day and per week (WRC, 2018).
- [ ] Issue a Day 5 statement of the five core terms to every new hire.
- [ ] Issue a full written contract within two months.
- [ ] Keep a signed copy for every current employee — including long-serving staff who never got one.
2. Pay at least the national minimum wage
From 1 January 2026 the national minimum wage is €14.15 per hour for an experienced adult worker aged 20 or over (gov.ie, 2026). There are lower sub-minimum rates for younger workers: €12.74 for 19-year-olds, €11.32 for 18-year-olds and €9.91 for under-18s (gov.ie, 2026).
Underpayment is one of the breaches the WRC most often recovers wages for, so check the maths on every payslip — especially where staff are paid a flat weekly rate that may not cover the hours actually worked.
- [ ] Confirm every adult employee is paid at least €14.15/hour.
- [ ] Apply the correct sub-minimum rate for staff aged 18 and 19.
- [ ] Re-check pay whenever someone has a birthday that moves them up a rate band.
- [ ] Give every employee a written payslip showing gross pay and deductions.
3. Get statutory sick leave right
Employees with at least 13 weeks of continuous service are entitled to 5 paid statutory sick days per year, paid at 70% of their usual daily earnings up to a maximum of €110 a day, for certified leave only (WRC, 2026).
"Certified" matters: the employee needs a medical certificate from a registered practitioner for the days to qualify. Build a simple process so a sick shift is logged, certified and paid correctly rather than guessed at.
- [ ] Pay 5 statutory sick days a year at 70% (capped at €110/day) on receipt of a medical cert.
- [ ] Track each employee's sick-day balance across the calendar year.
4. Sort out annual leave and public holidays
Full-time staff are entitled to 4 working weeks of paid annual leave in a leave year in which they work at least 1,365 hours; part-time and variable-hours staff accrue 8% of hours worked, capped at four weeks (WRC, 2026). For hospitality, where rosters change weekly, the 8% method is usually the one that applies.
Ireland has 10 public holidays each year. For each one, an employee is entitled to one of: a paid day off on the day, a paid day off within a month, an extra day's annual leave, or an extra day's pay (WRC, 2026). You choose which — but you must give one of them, even to staff who do not normally work that day.
- [ ] Calculate annual leave correctly (4 weeks full-time, or 8% of hours for variable staff).
- [ ] Give one of the four public-holiday entitlements for all 10 public holidays.
- [ ] Pay leave in advance at the employee's normal weekly rate.
5. Keep accurate working-time and pay records
This is where many otherwise-compliant restaurants fall down in an inspection: they paid people correctly but cannot prove it. Under section 25 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, records that show whether the Act is being complied with "shall be retained by the employer for at least 3 years from the date of their making" (Irish Statute Book, 1997).
In practice that means keeping, for three years and in a form an inspector can read: hours worked (start, finish, breaks), pay and payslips, leave taken, and the written terms for every employee.
- [ ] Record daily start, finish and break times for every employee.
- [ ] Retain rosters, payslips and leave records for at least 3 years.
- [ ] Store them somewhere you could produce them within minutes, not days.
6. Don't overlook the rest
A few more obligations sit alongside the core five. You do not need to master all of them this week, but you should know they exist:
- Pension auto-enrolment (My Future Fund) is being introduced — make sure you are ready to enrol eligible staff when your obligations begin.
- Tips and gratuities: you cannot use tips to make up contractual or minimum-wage pay, and you must display how tips are distributed.
- Right to work: non-EEA nationals need permission to work in the State, and you should keep evidence on file.
Getting the staffing basics right is also the foundation for keeping good people — the same instinct that protects you in an inspection helps you reduce staff turnover in your Irish restaurant by showing your team you run a professional, fair workplace.
How to prepare for a WRC inspection
WRC inspections can be announced or unannounced, and inspectors have statutory powers to enter your premises, examine records and interview staff. Treat the checklist above as your standing state of readiness rather than something you scramble to fix when a letter arrives.
A simple quarterly routine keeps you inspection-ready: pull a sample of payslips and check the rate against the current minimum wage; confirm every current employee has a signed contract on file; spot-check that hours records exist for the last few weeks; and make sure your leave and sick-pay tracking is up to date. The whole review takes an afternoon.
If an inspector does call, cooperate, produce what is asked for, and fix any issue raised quickly — a prompt remedy is viewed very differently from a repeat or ignored breach.
What a breach actually costs
It is easy to put employment admin behind the daily grind of service. But weigh it against the downside. The WRC recovered nearly €1.58 million in unpaid wages from employers in 2025, ran 223 prosecutions, and food service was flagged as a high-non-compliance sector (DETE, 2026; CKT, 2026).
In owner terms: a single back-pay finding or prosecution can cost you more than a full year of simply doing the paperwork right — before you count the management time and the reputational hit of appearing on the WRC's published outcomes. Compliance is the cheap option.
The same logic applies to every back-office job you keep putting off. If your website is still the half-finished one "the nephew built" years ago, getting it handled once — with a tool like DineHere that turns a menu photo into a working site in minutes — frees up the same headspace you need for the work that actually keeps inspectors and customers happy. (For the cost side of running a compliant business, see our guide to the hospitality VAT rate in Ireland.)
Frequently asked questions
Does a small restaurant really get inspected by the WRC?
Yes. The WRC carried out 5,596 inspection visits in 2025 and named food service activities a sector with relatively high non-compliance, so small independent restaurants, cafés and takeaways are actively targeted (DETE, 2026).
What is the minimum wage for restaurant staff in Ireland in 2026?
€14.15 per hour for experienced adult workers aged 20 and over from 1 January 2026, with lower rates of €12.74, €11.32 and €9.91 for 19-, 18- and under-18-year-olds (gov.ie, 2026).
When do I have to give a new employee a contract?
You must give the five core terms in writing within five days of them starting, and a full written statement of terms within two months (WRC, 2018).
How many paid sick days must I give staff?
Five statutory sick days per year for employees with at least 13 weeks' service, paid at 70% of usual daily earnings up to €110 a day, for certified leave only (WRC, 2026).
How much annual leave are restaurant staff entitled to?
Full-time staff get 4 working weeks; variable-hours staff accrue 8% of hours worked, capped at four weeks (WRC, 2026).
Do I have to pay staff for public holidays they don't work?
Yes. For each of the 10 public holidays an employee is entitled to a paid day off, a paid day off within a month, an extra annual-leave day, or an extra day's pay — even if they don't normally work that day (WRC, 2026).
How long must I keep employment records?
At least 3 years from the date the records are made, under section 25 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 (Irish Statute Book, 1997).
What happens if the WRC finds a breach?
Outcomes range from a requirement to put things right and repay wages to prosecution; in 2025 the WRC recovered €1,578,924 in unpaid wages and ran 223 prosecutions with an 82% success rate (DETE, 2026).
Are WRC inspections announced in advance?
They can be announced or unannounced. Inspectors have statutory powers to enter the premises, inspect records and interview staff, so the safest approach is to stay inspection-ready year-round.
Do part-time and casual staff have the same rights?
The core entitlements — written terms, minimum wage, sick leave, annual leave and public-holiday benefit — apply to part-time and casual staff too, usually calculated on a pro-rata or per-hours basis rather than excluded.
This checklist is a practical starting point, not legal advice; for specific situations, check the current guidance at workplacerelations.ie or take professional advice.
