Holiday Pay for St Patrick’s Day 2023

St. Patrick’s Day 2023 falls on Friday March 17th and is a Public Holiday in Ireland.

It is a requirement that full-time employees, and eligible part-time employees, are given their public holiday statutory entitlement for Friday 17th March 2023.

So how does this affect workers in Ireland and their entitlement to time off or Holiday Pay for St Patrick’s Day 2023 ?

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Employees are entitled to one of the  following Public Holiday Benefits, in respect of 17th March 2023 (and any other public holiday):

a)        A paid day off on that day

b)        A paid day off within a month of that day

c)        An additional day of annual leave

d)        An additional day’s pay.

Unless an employer nominates an alternative option 21 days before the public holiday, an employee automatically receives a paid day off on the public holiday.

Full-time employees are immediately entitled to a public holiday benefit.
Part-time or casual employees must have worked at least a total of 40 hours in the 5 weeks ending on the day before the public holiday in order to qualify for the public holiday benefit.

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Where a public holiday falls on a day on which the employee normally works, or is normally scheduled to work, then: 

A full-time employee is entitled to one of the 4 public holiday benefit options listed above.
A part-time employee must have worked 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks to be entitled to one of the public holiday benefits listed above.

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Where a public holiday falls on a day on which an employee is normally off work, or is not scheduled to work,

• A full-time employee is entitled to a public holiday benefit equal to 1/5th of his normal weekly pay in respect of the normal weekly hours last worked by the employee before that public holiday,
• A part-time employee is also entitled to a public holiday benefit equal to 1/5th of his normal weekly pay, based on the average weekly pay (including any regular bonus or allowance, but excluding overtime) in the 13 weeks worked immediately prior to the public holiday, assuming they have worked 40 hours or more in the previous 5 weeks.

Note: Even if an employee works 6 days per week and the public holiday falls on the day on which he/she is not normally required to work, he/she is still only entitled to 1/5th of his/her normal weekly pay.

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Note : In  Northern Ireland   – if someone works on a bank or public holiday, there is no automatic right to an enhanced pay rate. What you get paid depends on your contract of employment.

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Bank Holidays in Ireland

Minimum Wage in Ireland