Carer's and compassionate leave in Ireland
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Caring for a family member or dealing with bereavement can force an employee to step away from work at short notice. Here is what Irish law requires employers to provide, what employees are entitled to, and how the two interact in practice.
The statutory rights that exist
Irish employment law gives employees several distinct entitlements that cover caring and bereavement situations. They are separate rights, and it is worth understanding each one clearly rather than treating them as a single category.
Carer's Leave is a longer-term unpaid entitlement under the Carer's Leave Act 2001. An employee with at least 12 months' continuous service can take up to 104 weeks (two years) of unpaid leave to provide full-time care to a person who needs it. The person being cared for must be assessed and approved by a deciding officer from the Department of Social Protection. Employment is protected during carer's leave — the employee keeps continuity of service and has the right to return to the same or an equivalent role.
Force Majeure Leave covers sudden family emergencies — for example, a child falling seriously ill or a close relative being injured in an accident. Under the Parental Leave Act 1998, employees are entitled to paid leave of up to three days in any 12-month period, or five days in any 36-month period, for genuine urgent family reasons. It applies only when the employee's immediate presence is indispensable.
Bereavement / Compassionate Leave is where the law is less prescriptive. There is no standalone statutory entitlement to bereavement leave in Irish law. The right to paid bereavement leave comes from an employee's contract of employment, a collective agreement, or company policy. This is a common point of confusion for both employers and employees.
What about compassionate leave in practice?
Because there is no statutory minimum for bereavement leave, what employees actually receive depends on what their employer has committed to in writing. Most employers in Ireland do provide paid bereavement leave as a contractual benefit, commonly ranging from three to five days for the death of an immediate family member, with shorter arrangements for more distant relatives.
If a contract or staff handbook is silent on the matter, an employer is not legally compelled to pay an employee who is absent due to bereavement — though refusing any leave at all would be unusual and could raise questions under the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence. From a practical standpoint, a clear written policy protects both sides.
Employers should be aware that the definition of "family" in bereavement policies matters. A policy that only covers blood relatives or legal spouses may unintentionally exclude employees in long-term partnerships, blended families, or those who were close to a friend in a parental role. Reviewing the definition periodically is good practice.
Carer's leave and social welfare
An employee on carer's leave may be eligible to claim Carer's Benefit or Carer's Allowance from the Department of Social Protection, depending on their PRSI record and means. Carer's Benefit is a PRSI-based payment; Carer's Allowance is means-tested. Neither comes from the employer — the employer's obligation is to protect the employee's job, not to top up their income.
Employees should apply to the Department of Social Protection directly. Employers are required to be notified at least six weeks before the leave starts (or as soon as reasonably practicable in an emergency), and they must be given written confirmation that the care recipient has been approved by a deciding officer.
Running payroll during carer's leave
Because carer's leave is unpaid, it simplifies the payroll position in one sense — but it creates a few details to manage correctly. You continue to make real-time payroll submissions to Revenue via ROS on or before each payday, even if the value of that submission is nil or reduced. The employee's cumulative tax credits and USC bands are not lost; they carry forward. PRSI contributions — both the employee rate of approximately 4.1% and the employer rate of approximately 11.15% — are not payable on weeks where no pay is received.
If the employee is receiving Carer's Benefit, that payment is taxable income, but Revenue handles the tax credits allocation. It is worth pointing employees toward myAccount on Revenue's website to check their tax credit certificate is correctly reflecting their situation while they are on leave.
Building a clear policy
Given that bereavement leave has no statutory floor, the most useful thing an employer can do is write an unambiguous policy and include it in the employment contract or staff handbook. A good policy names the qualifying relationships, states the number of paid days for each, explains who approves the leave, and describes what happens if an employee needs more time (whether that comes from annual leave, unpaid leave, or discretionary paid leave).
For carer's leave, a brief internal procedure covering how an employee gives notice and what documentation is required keeps the process manageable for both the HR team and the employee at what is already a difficult time.
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