At a glance
- The European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations 2022 (the “Regulations”), which transposes EU Directive 2019/1152, have now been signed into Irish law.
- Employers in Ireland should now take steps to review their existing contracts of employment to ensure compliance.
Summary of key changes
Below is a table highlighting the key changes under the new law.
| Issue | Overview of changes | Comments |
| Terms and Conditions within 1 month. | Specified terms must be provided to employees in writing within 1 month of commencement of employment. Additional information must now also be provided. |
The following additional terms should be included:
|
| Core Terms within 5 days | Additional information must be provided to employees in writing within 5 days of the commencement of employment. |
The following additional terms should be included:
|
| Overseas employment | Additional terms must be provided when an employee is required to work outside of the State for at least 1 month. |
Employers are now also required to provide:
|
| Changes of terms | Change to deadline for notification of changes to their terms and conditions. | Written notification of the date and nature of the change should be provided no later than the day which the change takes effect. |
| Probationary periods | Probationary periods have been set an upper limit of 6 months (subject to exceptions). |
Probationary periods should not exceed 6 months. In exceptional circumstances this can be extended to up to 12 months if it is in the interest of the employee. If a current employee is subject to a probationary period of over 6 months, and they have completed at least 6 months of that period, their probationary period will expire on either:
Where an employee is absent during their probationary period, such a period can be extended by the length of the employee’s absence. The probationary period in a fixed term contract should be proportionate to the duration of the fixed term. |
| Exclusivity of Service | An employer can not preclude an employee from working for another employer (subject to exceptions). | Unless a restriction is proportionate and based on one of the objective grounds, an employer can’t prevent an employee working for another employer. If a restriction is imposed, details of the restriction and the objective grounds, must be included in the in the employee’s contract |
| Training | Employees are entitled to payment for mandatory work-related training | Training costs must be paid by the employer. Time spent on training counts as working time. |
| Predictability of working hours | New changes have been introduced in order to afford employees more predictable and secure working conditions. | A new right to request a form of employment with more predictable and secure working conditions has been introduced. A failure to notify the employee of their working hours 24 hours before their first day / the day in each week that the employee is required to work, will mean that an employee has the right to refuse to work during these hours and is protected from penalisation. |
Employer action points
- Template employment contracts should be reviewed to ensure compliance with the new obligations;
- Probationary periods and internal processes for monitoring probation should be reviewed;
- Internal processes should be reviewed to ensure employees receive adequate notice of workings hours and changes to terms;
- Workplace training requirements and arrangements should be assessed;
- Be aware that employees may request a written statement of new terms.
More to explore
