Lay-Off and Short-Time Working in Ireland: Employer Guide (2026)

Last updated October 2026. General information only, not legal advice.

When orders dry up or a site has to close for a few weeks, Irish employers have two statutory tools short of redundancy: lay-off and short-time working. Both are defined in the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, both are meant to be temporary, and both carry traps for employers without the right contractual wording or who leave staff on lay-off too long. This guide covers how the rules work, what notices are needed, what employees can claim, and where the risks lie. The Lay-Off & Short-Time Pack is a self-complete set of notices, letters and a procedure for employers who need the paperwork.

What lay-off and short-time mean in law

Under section 11(1) of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, a lay-off happens where an employee’s employment ceases because the employer is unable to provide the work the employee was employed to do, and the employer both reasonably believes the cessation will not be permanent and gives the employee notice to that effect before it starts.

Short-time, under section 11(2), is where the employee’s pay or hours fall below half their normal weekly pay or hours because of a diminution in the work available, again where the employer reasonably believes the reduction is temporary and notifies the employee before it begins.

Two features matter in practice. The arrangement must be expected to be temporary; if you already know the work is not coming back, the honest route is redundancy. And notice must be given before the lay-off or short-time starts. There is no statutory minimum notice period, but the notice has to come first.

Can you lay staff off without pay?

This is the question that catches most employers out. The 1967 Act defines lay-off; it does not give employers a free-standing right to stop paying wages. According to Citizens Information, unpaid lay-off or short-time is allowed where it is provided for in the employee’s contract or is established custom and practice. Otherwise the employer needs the employee’s agreement.

Get this wrong and the risk is a claim under the Payment of Wages Act 1991. Section 5 permits only deductions required by statute, authorised by the contract or agreed in advance in writing, and section 5(6) treats non-payment of wages properly payable as a deduction. An employee laid off without pay and without a contractual basis can complain to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Check the contract first; if the clause is not there, put the arrangement in writing and ask employees to agree to it.

Giving notice: Form RP9

Form RP9 remains the standard document for lay-off and short-time procedures and is referred to on the WRC and Citizens Information websites. It has three parts:

• Part A is the employer’s notice of lay-off or short-time to the employee. The Act does not require this notice to be in writing, but a written notice is strongly preferable because it proves the date and the “temporary” belief.
• Part B is the employee’s notice of intention to claim a redundancy payment after a qualifying period of lay-off or short-time.
• Part C is the employer’s counter-notice.

When an employee can claim redundancy

Section 12 of the 1967 Act lets an employee claim a redundancy lump sum where they have been on lay-off or short-time for four or more consecutive weeks, or for six or more weeks within a period of thirteen weeks (with no more than three of those weeks consecutive). The employee must give written notice of intention to claim after that period has run and no later than four weeks after the lay-off or short-time ends.

The employer can resist the claim by serving a written counter-notice under section 13 within seven days of receiving the employee’s notice. The counter-notice must state that the employer reasonably expects the employee to begin, within four weeks, a period of at least thirteen weeks’ unbroken work without lay-off or short-time. If the employee is in fact laid off or on short-time for each of the following four weeks, the Act conclusively presumes that expectation was not met and the claim stands.

An employee who claims redundancy this way is treated as having left voluntarily and does not get statutory minimum notice. Separately, if the employer itself decides to make a laid-off employee redundant, Citizens Information explains that the contract is treated as reactivated and full notice is due.

During the pandemic, section 12A suspended the right to claim redundancy after lay-off. That suspension ended on 30 September 2021 and section 12 has applied normally since.

Statutory redundancy and the lay-off payment scheme

Statutory redundancy is two weeks’ pay for each year of service plus one bonus week, with weekly pay capped at €600, for employees with at least 104 weeks’ continuous service. Lay-off does not break continuity of service, but periods of lay-off in the three years before termination are not reckonable when calculating the payment. The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Act 2022 created a separate State-funded payment for employees who lost reckonable service through COVID-19 lay-offs between 13 March 2020 and 31 January 2022.

Leave and public holidays during lay-off

Annual leave does not accrue during lay-off, although leave already built up can be taken. Employees keep their entitlement for public holidays falling in the first thirteen weeks of a lay-off; part-time staff must have worked at least 40 hours in the previous five weeks. Minimum notice under the 1973 Act, from one week to eight weeks depending on service, becomes relevant if the arrangement ends in redundancy.

Social welfare for laid-off and short-time staff

Employees laid off entirely can apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or, if they qualify, the Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit introduced on 31 March 2025, which pays 60% of previous earnings up to €450 a week for the first 13 weeks, stepping down to 55% (max €375) and then 50% (max €300). Pay-related benefit is not payable for any week in which the person is in employment, so short-time workers claim ordinary Jobseeker’s Benefit instead.

Short-Time Work Support is a form of Jobseeker’s Benefit for employees who were full-time and are now systematically working three days a week or fewer. It is paid for each day not worked as a fraction of the weekly rate, is not taxable, and runs for up to six or nine months. The employee applies through MyWelfare and the employer completes a UP80 declaration. The personal rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit is €254 a week in 2026; Budget 2027 (6 October 2026) announced an increase to €264, expected to take effect in January 2027.

Choosing who goes on lay-off

Selection should follow the same principles as redundancy selection: objective criteria, applied reasonably and consistently, with no discrimination on any of the nine equality grounds. Document the reason for the lay-off, the criteria used and the communications with each employee.

Complaints and time limits

Most complaints connected with lay-off, including payment of wages and minimum notice, go to the WRC within six months of the contravention, extendable to twelve months for reasonable cause under section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015. A claim for a statutory redundancy lump sum under section 24 of the 1967 Act must be made within 52 weeks, extendable to 104 weeks for reasonable cause.

What a template can and cannot do

The Lay-Off & Short-Time Pack gives you a written procedure, notice and agreement letters, a counter-notice and a record sheet, all of which you complete yourself. It cannot create a contractual right to lay off without pay where none exists, and it cannot tell you whether a particular downturn is temporary. If you are facing a mass lay-off, a collective redundancy, or a dispute with a union or the WRC, speak to a solicitor; you can find one through the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service. Our guides to redundancy in Ireland and what an employment contract must contain cover the related ground, and all of our employment law templates are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

How long can an employer lay you off in Ireland?

There is no fixed maximum, but after four consecutive weeks, or six weeks within thirteen, the employee can give written notice claiming a redundancy payment under section 12 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, unless the employer serves a valid counter-notice within seven days.

Do you get paid on lay-off in Ireland?

Not unless the contract says so. Unpaid lay-off is permitted where the contract or custom and practice allows it; otherwise the employer needs the employee’s agreement, and unpaid lay-off without that basis can ground a Payment of Wages Act claim. Laid-off employees can apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Pay-Related Benefit.

What is short-time working in Ireland?

Short-time is where an employee’s weekly pay or hours fall below half of normal because there is less work available, the employer reasonably believes it is temporary, and the employee is told before it starts. Short-time workers may qualify for Short-Time Work Support for the days they do not work.

Is Form RP9 still used for lay-off?

Yes. Both the WRC and Citizens Information still refer to Form RP9 for lay-off and short-time procedures: Part A for the employer’s notice, Part B for the employee’s claim and Part C for the employer’s counter-notice.

Does lay-off break continuous service?

No. Lay-off does not break continuity of service, but weeks of lay-off in the three years before termination are not counted as reckonable service when calculating a statutory redundancy payment.

Sources: Citizens Information – Lay-off, short-time working and redundancy · Redundancy Payments Act 1967, s.12 (revised) · WRC – Redundancy · gov.ie – Short-Time Work Support · gov.ie – Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit guidelines

OnlineLegalServices.ie is not a solicitor’s practice and does not give legal advice. For advice on your own situation, speak to a solicitor.