Notice Periods in Ireland: Statutory Minimum Notice Explained (2026)

How much notice you are owed when you lose your job, and how much you owe when you resign, is set by law in Ireland. The Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 gives every employee with at least 13 weeks' service a sliding scale of statutory notice, from 1 week up to 8 weeks after 15 years of service.

This guide sets out the exact statutory bands, the 1-week notice employees must give, how contracts interact with the statutory minimum, pay in lieu of notice, dismissal without notice, garden leave, and what to do if your employer short-changes your notice.

Information last verified on 20 July 2026. This page is general legal information for the Republic of Ireland, not legal advice.

Check your own entitlement: the free Ireland notice period calculator converts your start date and service length into your exact statutory notice in seconds.

How much notice must my employer give in 2026?

Section 4 of the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973 sets the statutory minimum an employer must give any employee with 13 weeks or more of continuous service:

Each band includes its lower boundary and excludes its upper one. So exactly 2.0 years of service means 2 weeks' notice, exactly 5.0 years means 4 weeks, exactly 10.0 years means 6 weeks, and exactly 15.0 years means 8 weeks. Citizens Information's own worked example follows the same logic: an employee with 5 years and 3 months of service is entitled to 4 weeks' notice.

If you have been employed for less than 13 weeks, the Act gives you no statutory notice at all, although your contract can still promise some.

How much notice do I have to give when I resign?

The employee side of the bargain is much lighter. Under section 6 of the 1973 Act, once you have 13 weeks' service you must give your employer at least 1 week's notice of resignation, however long you have worked there. The statutory figure never climbs with service the way employer notice does.

Your contract can require a longer resignation notice, and many do, commonly 1 month or more for senior roles. If you have under 13 weeks' service and your contract says nothing about notice, you are not required to give any.

Can my contract set a different notice period?

Yes, in one direction only. A contract can give more notice than the statutory scale, and where it does, the longer contractual period is what applies.

What a contract cannot do is undercut the statute. Section 4(5) of the 1973 Act overrides any contractual notice term that is shorter than the statutory minimum, so a clause promising only 1 week to a 12-year employee is simply replaced by the 6-week statutory entitlement.

Pay in lieu of notice

An employer and employee can agree that instead of working out the notice period, the employee leaves immediately and is paid for the notice weeks. Section 7 of the 1973 Act permits this by agreement. Pay in lieu is common where the employer prefers a clean break, but it is a matter of consent rather than something either side can impose unilaterally under the Act.

Can I be dismissed without any notice?

The 1973 Act sets minimum notice for ordinary dismissals, but it does not take away an employer's right to dismiss without notice for serious misconduct. Summary dismissal remains lawful where the employee's conduct genuinely justifies it, though the employer must still act reasonably and follow fair procedures.

A dismissal without notice that is not justified, or that skips fair procedures, can ground a claim under the unfair dismissal regime as well as a minimum-notice complaint.

What is garden leave?

Garden leave is a contractual arrangement, not a statutory one. The employee serves out the notice period on full pay but stays at home, away from the workplace, colleagues and clients. Employers use it to protect confidential information or client relationships during the handover. Because it is contractual, it only applies if your contract provides for it, and you remain an employee, with pay and benefits, until the notice period ends.

Notice during redundancy

A redundancy dismissal uses exactly the same statutory scale in the table above. Two practical points matter:

• The notice clock only starts when you receive written notice with a termination date. A warning that your role is 'at risk' does not start it.
• If you have at least 104 weeks' service, section 7 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1979 entitles you to reasonable paid time off during the last 2 weeks of redundancy notice to look for new work or arrange training, and your employer may ask for evidence that you are using the time for that. Outstanding annual leave is taken during notice or paid in lieu.

If you want to leave before the notice period ends, for example to start a new job, use form RP6 and get your employer's consent. Leaving early without agreement can forfeit your statutory redundancy lump sum. For the payment itself, see our guide to redundancy pay in Ireland.

What if my employer does not give proper notice?

If you are dismissed with less than your statutory notice, or without the pay that should have come with it, you can refer a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission using its online form. The time limit is 6 months from the breach, extendable to 12 months where there is reasonable cause for the delay. Our guide to making a WRC complaint walks through the process, the hearing and appeals.

More Irish employment guides, from the minimum wage to sick pay, are collected on our Ireland law hub.

This page is general legal information for the Republic of Ireland, not legal advice. Notice disputes often turn on the wording of an individual contract, so consult a solicitor about your own situation. Complaints about statutory minimum notice are handled by the Workplace Relations Commission.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the legal notice period in Ireland?

Statutory employer notice runs on a sliding scale under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973: 1 week for 13 weeks to 2 years of service, 2 weeks for 2 to 5 years, 4 weeks for 5 to 10 years, 6 weeks for 10 to 15 years, and 8 weeks for 15 years or more. Contracts can provide longer notice but never shorter.

How much notice do I get after exactly 5 years of service?

4 weeks. Each statutory band includes its lower boundary, so exactly 5.0 years falls into the '5 years or more but less than 10' band. On the same logic, exactly 2 years gives 2 weeks and exactly 15 years gives 8 weeks.

How much notice do I have to give my employer when I resign?

The statutory minimum is 1 week once you have 13 weeks' service, regardless of how long you have worked there. Your contract can require more, and many contracts do, so check it before you hand in your notice.

Can my employer pay me instead of making me work my notice?

Yes, if you both agree. Section 7 of the 1973 Act allows payment in lieu of notice by agreement, so you leave immediately and receive the pay for the notice weeks instead of working them.

Do I get notice if I am made redundant?

Yes. Redundancy dismissals use the same statutory scale of 1 to 8 weeks, and the notice period only starts when you receive written notice with a termination date. If you have at least 104 weeks' service you also get reasonable paid time off to job-hunt during the last 2 weeks of redundancy notice.

What happens if I leave without working my notice?

You would be in breach of the statutory 1-week duty or any longer contractual term, which is a contract issue between you and the employer. In a redundancy situation it has a sharper edge: leaving early without submitting form RP6 and getting the employer's consent can forfeit your statutory redundancy payment.