Cost to hire in Ireland

What does an employee in Ireland actually cost?

Employer contributions in Ireland add up to 11.25% of gross pay before caps.

Figures last verified September 9, 2026. Rates change, usually at the start of a tax year. Every source is linked at the bottom of this page so you can check us. Confirm with a licensed adviser before committing to a hire.

Gross monthly salary

Line	Rate	Applied to	Annual

Show the formula

annualGross = monthlySalary × instalmentsPerYear

for each statutory contribution:
    base   = min(annualGross, statutory cap)
    amount = base × rate

totalEmployerCost = annualGross + Σ amounts

Rates and caps come from the sources cited below. Nothing else is added.

The contributions, line by line

These are the statutory employer-side charges, and they sit on top of gross salary. The employee's own deductions come out of that gross figure and are not an additional cost to you.

Contribution	Employer rate	Cap
Employer PRSI (Class A, higher rate) No ceiling: the rate applies to the whole of gross pay. It rises to 11.4% on 1 October 2026, one of a legislated series of annual increases funding pension reform.	11.25% range 11.25–11.4%	None

A worked example

At a gross monthly salary of €4,000, an employer in Ireland pays €53,400 per year in total: €48,000 in salary across 12 instalments, plus €5,400 in contributions. That is a multiplier of 1.11× the quoted salary.

Change the salary in the calculator above to run your own figure. The example and the calculator use the same code.

Salary instalments

Ireland has no statutory 13th month and no mandatory holiday allowance. Bonuses are contractual. Of the countries on this site, Ireland is the cleanest case where twelve monthly payments really do mean twelve.

Leave you must budget for

Statutory paid leave is 20 working days, alongside roughly 10 public holidays. Four working weeks under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which is 20 days on a five-day week.

Paid leave is not a separate line of cost, since it is time not worked inside a salary you are already paying. It does change effective cost per working day, which matters when you compare countries.

Where this gets it wrong

The rate modelled is the one in force on the verification date. From 1 October 2026 employer PRSI rises to 11.4%, so any hire straddling that date costs slightly more than the figure shown here.
A lower employer rate of 9% applies where weekly earnings are at or below €552 (9.15% from 1 October 2026). This model applies the higher rate, which is correct for salaries above roughly €28,700 a year and overstates cost below that.
Ireland has no employer PRSI ceiling, so unlike Poland, Spain, Germany or the Netherlands, employer cost here stays strictly proportional to salary however senior the hire.
This model covers statutory employer contributions. It does not price benefits you choose to offer, recruitment, equipment, or the fee an employer-of-record provider charges on top.

Sources

Last verified September 9, 2026.

Tell me when Ireland rates change

We re-check Ireland's statutory rates each tax year and correct this page. Leave an address and we will tell you when a number here moves.

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