Zero-hour contracts in Ireland : what overtime pay you are owed

• Ban (mostly): availability for a stated number of hours must be greater than zero, except emergency work and short-term relief for routine absences. Genuine casual work is also carved out (OTWA s.18 as substituted by EMPA 2018; WRC EMPA notice).
• Mechanism A (per occasion): called in and not given the expected hours → minimum payment on each occasion: three times the national minimum hourly rate, or three times the applicable ERO hourly rate (WRC Zero Hours Working Practices; WRC EMPA notice).
• Mechanism B (weekly floor): required to be available but given under 25% of the relevant hours that week → payment for 25% of the contract hours or 15 hours, whichever is less (WRC; OTWA s.18(4)).
• These are not the same formula. Do not collapse call-in pay into the weekly 25%/15-hour floor.
• On-call: s.18(7) / Citizens Information: the 3× payment described here does not apply if you are on call.
• Habitual under-contracted hours → banded hours (s.18A). Unpaid call-ins or missing floor pay → WRC complaint (usually 6 months, possible further 6 months for reasonable cause).

Citizens Information: a zero-hours contract means you are available for work but hours are not a guaranteed set. OTWA s.18 applies where the contract requires availability in a week for (a) a certain number of hours (the contract hours), (b) as and when the employer requires, or (c) both.

Where the contract states a certain number of hours (a or c), that number shall be greater than zero (s.18(2)). That is the core of the ban.

Ireland is not the UK. No ACAS Early Conciliation or Employment Tribunal deadlines here. Enforce via the WRC, with appeal into the Irish Labour Court system.

WRC guidance on EMPA 2018 states that section 18 prohibits zero hour contracts except where:

• the work is of a casual nature,
• the work is done in emergency circumstances, or
• short-term relief work to cover routine absences for the employer.

Citizens Information uses the same three headings (short-notice hospital cover; school substitute panels).

Read them narrowly. A "casual" label while you are rostered like core staff is a dispute trigger. s.18(1): the section does not apply merely because prior casual work created an expectation. WRC: entitlement does not arise by virtue only of expectation; it applies when you are notified in advance of being required to work, or the contract requires availability.

Emergency / short-term relief also sit in s.18(3); exceptional circumstances can limit some weekly floor claims (s.18(5)). Check live WRC / CI pages; do not invent a fourth exception.

EMPA did not create one blended "3 × 25%" slogan. WRC: a new call-in minimum payment applies and the already existing weekly method (25% of contract hours or 15 hours) continues to apply overall. Two tracks.

Mechanism A: called in, then little or no work that day

Trigger (WRC): from 4 March 2019, a minimum payment arises where an employee is called in to work and does not receive the expected hours of work. It is payable on each occasion (for employees to whom section 18 applies).

Amount (WRC wording): on each such occasion, three times the national minimum hourly rate of pay, or three times the minimum hourly rate of pay set out in an Employment Regulation Order (if one exists for that sector and remains in force).

WRC illustration: called in and sent home after 1 hour: the minimum amount payable on that occasion is 3 times the applicable minimum hourly rate (National Minimum or ERO).

NMW context: from 1 January 2026, adult NMW is €14.15/hour (gov.ie / WRC; CI cites the same). If an ERO hourly rate applies, use that in the "three times" calculation. Re-check live pages; do not invent a custom euro total for your shift.

Not Mechanism B: Mechanism A is not "25% of weekly contract hours at triple rate."

Mechanism B: weekly availability floor (25% or 15 hours)

Trigger (WRC): if an employer fails to require an employee to work at least 25% of the time the employee must be available, the employee is entitled to payment for 25% of the contract hours or 15 hours, whichever is less.

Statute (OTWA s.18(4)): with no work, pay as if you worked the lesser of those two hour figures. With some work below 25% (and that percentage under 15 hours), calculate the week as if you worked that percentage. For "as and when" availability (s.18(1)(b)/(c)), 25% can track comparable hours done by another employee (s.18(4)(b), s.18(6)).

WRC hour-floor examples: available 48h, no work → 12h; available 8h, not called in → 2h; broader periods may use 15h or 25% of comparable hours (WRC example 3).

Citizens Information: available 20h, no work → lesser of 15 or 5 → 5h; available 20h, got 3h → top-up toward 25% (2h more per CI). Use for Mechanism B only. Do not merge with Mechanism A's per-occasion 3× hourly rate.

CI vs WRC: CI also shows euro illustrations using 3 × NMW (€14.15 from Jan 2026). WRC still separates call-in (3× hourly rate per occasion) from the weekly 25%/15h floor. Quote the matching track and cite the URL; never invent a hybrid rate.

On-call, lay-off, illness, and other limits

• On-call: s.18(7) excludes pure on-call from "make yourself available" in this section. CI: the minimum payment rate does not apply if you are on call.
• s.18(5): weekly floor does not apply for lay-off / short-time, certain emergencies / exceptional circumstances, or if you were unavailable (e.g. illness).
• s.18(8): does not disturb a contract that already pays wages simply for being available at the times and place concerned.

EMPA also requires core terms within five days, including hours the employer reasonably expects per normal day and week (WRC EMPA notice).

If you habitually work far more than the paper says, use banded hours (OTWA s.18A): 12-month look-back, written request, reply within 4 weeks, bands A to H. That is not Mechanism A or B. See our companion banded hours guide for understated habitual hours; stay here for cancelled call-ins or the weekly floor.

Evidence: contract / Day-5 statement; call-in texts; rotas; payslips (ERO notes if any); illness, lay-off, or emergency notes if s.18(5) is raised.

WRC (Ireland only): online form on workplacerelations.ie. Usual limit 6 months, plus up to 6 months for reasonable cause (CI / WRC). Not ACAS, not a UK Employment Tribunal.

Write first: which mechanism, which dates, which WRC wording. Clarity beats a blended "triple 25%" demand.

• Blending Mechanism A and Mechanism B into one formula.
• Inventing euros not tied to live NMW/ERO and the official call-in (3× hourly rate) or weekly (25% or 15h, lesser) wording.
• Treating every "casual" label as a section 18 opt-out when you were notified to be available or the contract required it.
• Ignoring the on-call exclusion (s.18(7)).
• Forgetting s.18(5) limits (lay-off, short-time, emergency, illness) on the weekly floor.
• Using UK zero-hours pages, NLW, or tribunal deadlines for an Irish claim.
• Skipping banded hours (s.18A) when habitual hours are the issue, or skipping this pay track for a cancelled call-in.
• Missing the 6-month WRC window.

Sort each date under Mechanism A or Mechanism B before you escalate.

Paye Mes Heures can help you organise hours and prepare a clear dossier under Irish OTWA/EMPA rules for an employer letter or WRC pack. Treat any figure as a working aid against your records and the official texts, not legal advice and not a WRC determination. Cross-check OTWA s.18 as amended, WRC Zero Hours Working Practices, the EMPA notice, and Citizens Information before you file.

• Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018, section 15 (substitution of OTWA s.18): https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/act/38/section/15/enacted/en/html
• Workplace Relations Commission - Employment Misc. Provisions Act 2018 notice: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/news-media/workplace_relations_notices/employment-misc-provisions-act-2018.html
• Workplace Relations Commission - Zero Hours Working Practices: https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/employment_types/zero-hours-working-practices/
• Citizens Information - Zero-hours contracts: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/contracts-of-employment/zero-hours-contracts/
• Workplace Relations Commission - workplacerelations.ie (complaints hub): https://www.workplacerelations.ie/