🇬🇧 Hire in United Kingdom vs 🇮🇪 Ireland
Statutory employer on-costs are lower in Ireland; the full picture depends on salary level, termination exposure and how fast you need the person on payroll.
Not professional advice. Rates, rules and prices change often. Figures here are researched estimates from the sources listed; anything marked “unverified” needs checking with the provider or a local adviser before you rely on it.
| United Kingdom | Ireland | |
|---|---|---|
| Employer on-costs | 14–18% | 11.4–12.9% |
| Total cost on a $60,000 salary | $68,400–$70,800 | $66,840–$67,740 |
| Mandatory benefits | Statutory paid holiday 5.6 weeks; Statutory Sick Pay; Statutory maternity/paternity/shared parental pay; Workplace pension auto-enrolment; National Minimum / Living Wage; Written statement of employment terms from day one | Annual leave of 4 working weeks (20 days); Public holidays (10); Statutory sick pay (5-10 days at 70% of pay, capped; 2026 schedule from general knowledge); Maternity (26 weeks) and parent's leave; Auto-enrolment pension contribution (My Future Fund) where eligible |
| Probation | No statutory probation; 3-6 months commonly used. Notice usually shortened during probation by contract. | Probation up to 6 months, extendable to 12 months only in specified circumstances (Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018; general knowledge). |
| Notice and severance | Statutory minimum employer notice: 1 week after 1 month of service, then 1 week per full year up to 12 weeks. Contracts often require more. Statutory redundancy pay is available after 2 years' service: up to 0.5, 1 or 1.5 weeks' pay per year depending on age, with a weekly pay cap and 20-year cap. | Statutory minimum notice: 1 week (13 weeks to 2 years), 2 weeks (2-5 years), 4 weeks (5-10 years), 6 weeks (10-15 years), 8 weeks (15+ years); contract may be longer. Statutory redundancy pay after 104 weeks' service: 2 weeks' pay per year plus one bonus week, weekly pay capped at EUR 600. General knowledge, not fetched. |
| Paid leave | 5.6 weeks (28 days for a 5-day week) including bank holidays; 8 bank holidays in England and Wales. | 4 working weeks of annual leave (Organisation of Working Time Act 1997) plus 10 public holidays (general knowledge). |
| Contractor risk | IR35 / off-payroll working rules: medium and large private clients must decide status of contractors engaged via personal service companies; if inside IR35, the fee-payer operates PAYE and NIC. Employment status tests (control, substitution, mutuality of obligation) are applied. HMRC can recover underpaid tax and NIC. | Irish revenue and courts apply a multi-factor employment status test (Code of Practice on Determining Employment Status). Moderate risk where contractors work like employees. |
| EOR onboarding | Days to ~2 weeks (provider claims; specific figure unverified) | not verified |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) / BST (UTC+1) in summer; 4-5 hours ahead of US Eastern. | GMT (UTC+0) in winter and IST (UTC+1) in summer; 5 hours ahead of US Eastern. |
| Data confidence | medium | high |
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FAQ
Is it cheaper to hire in United Kingdom or Ireland?
On statutory employer on-costs alone, Ireland is lower (11.4–12.9%). Salary levels, EOR fees and benefits also matter; use the cost calculator.