National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage Act 2000

The National Minimum Wage Act became Law on the 1st April 2000. The Act applies to all employees, including full-time, part-time, temporary and casual employees. The following categories of employees are excluded from its provisions:

• Close relatives of the employer such as spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, brother and sister.
• Apprentices within the meaning of the Industrial Training Act 1967.

From the 1st of July 2007 the National Minimum Hourly Rate of Pay was €8.65 Per Hour.

On the 1st February 2011 the National Minimum Hourly Rate was Reduced to €7.65 Per Hour. However, in July 2011 the National Minimum Hourly Rate of Pay was again increased to €8.65 per Hour.

It is a criminal offence for an employer to pay an employee less than his/her minimum hourly rate of pay entitlement. The minimum rate of pay changes from time to time.

The working hours of an employee for the purposes of this Act include any overtime hours worked in the pay reference period, any time spent on standby in the workplace, and any Training time during normal working hours.
An employee may refer a complaint in relation to entitlements under the National Minimum Wage Act to a Rights Commissioner of the LRC or may instead make a complaint to the Labour Inspectorate at the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment