Employment

GENDER PAY GAP REPORTING: MANDATORY PORTAL SUBMISSIONS FOR 2026

The Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Act 2026 (the “Act”) was signed into law on 24 October 2026 and provides the statutory basis for mandatory reporting of gender pay gap information through the Government’s Gender Pay Gap Portal (the “Portal”).

The Portal, which launched on a voluntary basis in November 2025, enables users to view, compare and review employer gender pay gap data, with filters available by reporting year, sector and company size.

Under the Act, the use of the Portal is now mandatory for the 2026 reporting cycle and employers with 50 or more employees must select a “snapshot” date in June 2026 and publish their gender pay gap information within five months of their chosen “snapshot date”. In-scope employers must also continue to make their reports publicly available on their own websites or otherwise.

For more information on the Portal, see our Insights Blog post here: Gender Pay Gap Portal now publicly available.

TAX TREATMENT OF TERMINATION PAYMENTS

The recently published Finance (No.2) Bill 2026 (the “Bill”) includes two notable proposed changes from an employment perspective.

The first proposed change concerns the expansion of the definition of “relevant capital sum” under the Increased Basic Exemption and the Standard Capital Superannuation Benefit. The proposed amendment, if passed, will result in the definition being expanded from the lump sum due under the occupation pension scheme to capture any “relevant pension arrangements” which will include PRSAs, Pan European Pension Products, the pension auto-enrolment MyFuture Fund and certain foreign pension plans where Migrant Member Relief has been claimed.

The second proposed change relates to the language which permits a waiver of this lump sum. The Bill proposes that this waiver must now be done at the “relevant date” which, for termination payment purposes, is defined under section 201(1)(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as the date of the termination rather than on or before the relevant date as had previously been permitted.

Both changes, if enacted, will take effect from 1 January 2027. As such, Employers should be aware of the proposed changes and keep up to date as to the status of the Bill.

CONTRIBUTION RATES INCREASE

Pay Related Social Insurance (“PRSI”) contribution rates increased with effect from 1 October 2026. The Class A employee rate increased from 4.2% to 4.35%, while the Class A employer rates increased from 9% to 9.15% (lower rate) and from 11.25% to 11.40% (higher rate). These increases form part of the Government’s PRSI Roadmap and are separate from the measures announced in Budget 2027.

Budget 2027 also announced that the weekly earnings threshold for the lower rate of employer PRSI will increase from €552 to €600 in 2027.

Employers should be aware of the revised rates and thresholds and ensure that payroll systems reflect the October 2026 rate changes.