First published on Thursday, March 14, 2024
Last updated on Thursday, March 13, 2025
Monday 17th March is St. Patrick’s Day. And because it falls on a Monday, millions of Irish workers will be enjoying a nice long weekend.
But, as with every public holiday, there’s always questions about who’s eligible for a paid day off. That’s why we wanted to give you some top tips, general guidance, and things to look out for ahead of St. Patricks Day!
Don’t have a paddy with your public holidays!
Remember—you have a statutory obligation to pay all full-time employees on public holidays. Though, that does mean there’s some employees who don’t automatically get paid for public holidays. These include:
Part-timers who don’t accumulate 40 hours in the previous five weeks
Employees that have been absent for over 52 weeks due to occupational illness of injury
Employees absent for more than 26 weeks due to non-occupational illness or injury
Employees absent because they’re striking
Employees on a period of lay-off that exceeds 13 weeks
Employees absent on health & safety leave
But let’s remember, there are some industries, like hospitality and care, that will be expected to work on public holidays, and their contracts will reflect this. So then, what do you do in that scenario?
How should I handle the public holidays in my industry?
You’ve got a few options. Pay them for the work done; give them a different paid day off within one month; an extra day’s annual leave, or an extra day’s pay. Whatever your decision, make sure you have a policy in place and that everyone is treated equally. If not, you could face claims of unfair treatment from your staff.
Also, business owners may need to prepare for last-minute holiday requests to extend the weekend even longer. In this case, employers will likely be in a position where they must decline some of those requests for time off to avoid understaffing. It’s not a situation anyone wants to be in, but ultimately businesses do need to keep those wheels turning.
Even if you’re not in an industry like hospitality, if too many employees have the same idea to book the day off—you could run into issues. BrightHR’s staff holiday planner helps instantly flag clashes and see your entire teams leave balance at a glance. Handy right?
That’s why it’s important to have an annual leave policy in place that sets out how to manage annual leave, including the request process and acceptance criteria.
Psst, we’ve got a free annual leave policy here!
Lessons from last year: Sickness could spike!
In 2024, we saw sick leave spike by 39.48% compared to your average Tuesday following St Patricks Day.
Now, you can’t exactly control when your staff are going to call in sick, after all, you’re not clairvoyant. But you can get better peace of mind when it comes to finding last-minute cover with BrightHR’s open shifts feature. It’s quite nifty, we promise.
Make sure employee conduct is appropriate if you host St. Paddy’s work events
There’s nothing wrong with hosting a party in the workplace but it is important to make sure you lay the foundations for proper employee conduct.
Remember you’re still responsible for your employees and it’s important to treat workplace parties as an extension of the workplace to avoid trouble.
Work celebrations like a St. Patrick’s party are a great opportunity to wind down and build a relationship with your employees. But they can also be unpredictable if alcohol is involved and could even lead to employee complaints and tribunals in extreme cases.
For expert advice on the work do’s and work don’ts, ask our superfast AI tool, Bright BrAinbox: “Can I serve alcohol at a work party?” or “What is the definition of a drug and alcohol policy?”
Still have a question?
Got a question about one of our HR tools that can simply make life easier as a small business owner? Talk to us by booking a demo with one of our friendly experts or call us on 1800 279 841 and let’s talk about how BrightHR can revolutionise people management in your business.
