Written terms within 5 days in Ireland : calculate what you are owed

• Within 5 days of commencement: a written Day 5 statement of core terms (names, address, place of work, job, start date, probation if any, duration if temporary or fixed-term, pay and pay reference period, expected daily and weekly hours, hours/overtime terms, tips policy where applicable).
• Within 1 month: the remaining written statement of terms (leave, sick pay, pensions, notice, collective agreements, training, agency user identity, unpredictable-work rules, and related items).
• Day 5 pay and hours lines help you prove rate and hours in underpayment, unpaid overtime, or banded-hours arguments.
• Statements must be signed and dated by or for the employer; keep your copy.
• Missing statements, or deliberately false or misleading ones, can support a WRC complaint with up to four weeks' remuneration.
• For Day 5 breaches you generally need more than one month continuous service before you can refer; watch WRC time limits.

EMPA 2018 inserted the "Day 5" duty into the 1994 Act so workers would not wait months for the basics: who pays you, how much, and for how many hours. From 4 March 2019 the five-day core statement applied. The 2022 Regulations expanded that early list and set the fuller statement deadline at one month (Citizens Information; WRC).

A written statement is not a full negotiated contract, but it is statutory evidence of what the employer put in writing. Verbal promises still matter; a signed Day 5 document is far easier to put before a WRC adjudication officer when payslips and rotas do not match what you were told.

The current WRC Day 5 (section 3(1A)) list requires written particulars covering:

1. Full names of employer and employee.
2. Employer address (or principal place of business in the State).
3. Place of work, or that you work at various places / may set your place of work.
4. Title, grade, nature or category of work, or a brief description.
5. Date of commencement.
6. Probation duration and conditions, if any.
7. Expected duration of a temporary contract, or end date of a fixed-term contract.
8. Remuneration: basic amount, other components shown separately where applicable, frequency and method of payment, and the pay reference period for National Minimum Wage purposes.
9. Hours the employer reasonably expects per normal working day and normal working week.
10. Terms relating to hours of work (including overtime).
11. Where applicable, the tips or gratuities and mandatory charges policy.

Citizens Information summarises the same core package. If any line is blank, vague ("as required"), or missing after day five, treat that as non-compliance.

By the end of month one the employer must also issue the fuller section 3(1) written statement. WRC and Citizens Information cover items such as pay intervals; paid leave (other than paid sick leave); sickness or injury terms; pensions; notice; references to collective agreements and any applicable REA or ERO; training; for agency workers, the user undertaking; and, if work is entirely or mostly unpredictable, guaranteed hours, reference hours and days, minimum assignment notice, and related social-security identity details where required.

For some items the employer may refer you to another readily accessible document (handbook, ERO, collective agreement). The statement itself must still be given, signed, and dated.

If you must work outside the State for at least one month, extra particulars (countries, period, currency, benefits, repatriation) must be given before you leave Ireland, with further posting details where you are a posted worker.

Wage claims rarely turn only on "I feel underpaid." Adjudicators look for a rate, a pay reference period, and expected or actual hours. The Day 5 statement is built to fix those anchors early.

Proving the rate. If the statement says €14.50 per hour paid weekly, and later payslips show a lower basic or a "training rate" you never agreed, the written particular shows what the employer recorded at the start. For National Minimum Wage disputes, that pay reference period and basic amount sit beside hours worked when average hourly pay is tested.

Proving hours. Expected daily and weekly hours, plus overtime terms, support unpaid overtime claims, unpaid trial or training hours that were really work, and arguments that you were kept far below the hours you were told to expect. Under EMPA 2018 banded hours and anti-zero-hours rules, a written "reasonably expected" hours figure is often the first document you compare with rotas when seeking a more secure band.

Linking documents. Keep the Day 5 statement with offer emails, rotas, clockings, payslips, and change notices. Short payslips against a higher written rate, or regular overtime against silence on overtime pay, are easier to explain when the statutory statement is in the file.

Agency work. The party who pays the wages is the employer for these statement duties. Clear pay and hours particulars from that payer remain core proof even when you move between user sites.

The employer must sign and date the written statement. You need not sign it for it to count as the employer's statement. The employer must keep a copy during employment and for at least one year after it ends. Paper or electronic form is fine if accessible, printable, and with proof of transmission or receipt retained.

If particulars change, notify you of the nature and date no later than the day it takes effect (and before departure for certain overseas changes). Unilateral "we are cutting your rate tomorrow" without agreement is still a contract issue.

Staff who started before the 2022 updates may request an updated combined statement; pre-1994 starters have a separate route. On a valid written request, the employer generally has up to two months to issue it (WRC). Ask in writing and keep a copy.

EMPA 2018 also protects you from penalisation for invoking these rights (asking for the statement, opposing falsification, giving evidence). Penalisation includes dismissal threats, demotion, pay or hour cuts, discipline, and intimidation. Upheld penalisation can attract up to four weeks' remuneration.

Ask HR in writing for the Day 5 and one-month statements. If you already have one, check it against the WRC list and seek corrections. Keep evidence of your start date, requests, and what you received.

The WRC can hear complaints for missing core terms within five days, missing fuller terms within one month, or a deliberately false or misleading statement. Upheld complaints may bring up to four weeks' remuneration and an order to issue a correct statement.

Service thresholds: at least four consecutive weeks before many Terms of Employment referrals, and more than one month for Day 5 (section 3(1A)) contraventions (WRC). Citizens Information also states at least one month's continuous service before complaining about missing written terms. Stay inside the usual six-month window (possible further six months for reasonable cause). File via the WRC online form; appeals generally go to the Labour Court, not a UK employment tribunal.

Inspectors may also treat serious Day 5 failures as offences (for example failure without reasonable cause to provide the Day 5 statement within one month of commencement, or deliberately or recklessly providing false or misleading Day 5 information).

Hospitality, Galway: started Monday; by Friday no written rate or hours. Verbal "€13.50 and about 30 hours." Payslips later average €12.80 with irregular hours. Missing Day 5 pay and hours lines are both a Terms of Employment breach and weak for the employer on underpayment.

Retail, Cork: Day 5 statement lists 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, but rotas run 45+ hours with no overtime clause. Pair the statement with rotas and payslips for unpaid overtime or Organisation of Working Time arguments.

Agency warehouse, Dublin: the wage-paying agency issues a clear Day 5 rate and expected week; the user site later pays a different cash rate. The payer's statement is core WRC evidence.

1. Treating "we'll email the contract later" as optional after day five.
2. Confusing the Day 5 core pack with the fuller one-month statement.
3. Ignoring a wrong employer name or address (harder to name the correct respondent).
4. Accepting "hours as required" with no expected day/week figures.
5. Losing electronic statements that cannot be printed or proved.
6. Waiting past service and complaint time limits.
7. Using UK "section 1 statement" guides instead of Irish WRC and Citizens Information rules.

If you are assembling start dates, written rates, expected hours, rotas, and payslips before you write to your employer or lodge with the WRC, Paye Mes Heures (payemesheures.fr) can help you line up dates, hours, and a shortfall table. It is a preparation aid, not Irish legal advice, and not an Ireland-specific calculator as mature as the French product. Cross-check the Terms of Employment Acts, EMPA 2018, Citizens Information, and the WRC before you file.

1. Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 (as amended): https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1994/act/5/enacted/en/html
2. Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018: https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/act/38/enacted/en/html
3. WRC - Terms of Employment: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/employer-obligations/terms-of-employment/
4. WRC - EMPA 2018 notice: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/news-media/workplace_relations_notices/employment-misc-provisions-act-2018.html
5. Citizens Information - Contract of employment: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/contracts-of-employment/contract-of-employment/
6. S.I. No. 686/2022 - Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Regulations: https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2022/si/686/made/en/print
7. WRC complaints portal: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/

General information on Irish written terms of employment. Not legal advice. Verify official WRC and Citizens Information pages before you act.