An employment permit is a set of promises to the State, and most of them are yours to keep as the employer. Under the Employment Permits Act 2024, in force since 2 September 2024, you must keep detailed records, pay at least the salary stated on the permit, tell DETE when things change, and be able to prove all of it when a Workplace Relations Commission inspector arrives, often unannounced.
Most employers who get into trouble never set out to break the rules. They missed a notification, let a salary drift below a rising threshold, or never built the file an inspector expects to see. We help you set the system up once, so that every renewal and every inspection is uneventful. That is the goal.
Made for people like you
Employers with permit holders on staff
You already sponsor Critical Skills or General Employment Permit holders and want the ongoing obligations handled properly, not discovered at renewal.
HR and people teams
You own the files, the payroll and the leaver process, and need a clear checklist of what DETE and the WRC actually expect to see.
Employers preparing for a WRC inspection
You have been contacted by the Workplace Relations Commission, or you simply want to know you would pass an unannounced visit tomorrow.
Businesses that changed shape
A name change, acquisition, restructure or move to short-time working all trigger notification duties that protect your permits at renewal.
Do you qualify?
Compliance is not a one-off filing. These are the standing obligations for every employer of permit holders, tested at each renewal and enforceable on inspection at any time.
Your standing obligations
- Keep records of each permit holder's employment, including the permit particulars, for 5 years or the full length of the employment if longer, available for inspection at your place of business
- Pay at least the salary stated on the permit, and meet the minimum annual remuneration in force whenever you renew, since thresholds are indexed and rose again on 1 March 2026
- Check and copy every hire's right to work: a valid IRP card with a stamp that actually permits the work, rechecked at each renewal
- Notify DETE within 4 weeks if the employment ends, and return the permit
- Keep at least half your workforce EEA nationals, the 50:50 rule, which applies at every new application and every renewal
- Keep your Employment Permits Online employer account verified with current Revenue and CRO details
Never do any of these
- Deduct permit fees or application costs from the worker's pay, or claw them back when they resign. Section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 forbids it
- Let a permit holder work in a different occupation, or for a different legal entity, than the one named on the permit
- Keep someone working after their immigration permission expires without proof they applied to renew it in time
- Let a Stamp 2 student work more than 20 hours a week in term time, even split across employers
- Submit false or misleading information to DETE. Fines run up to €50,000 and revocation follows
The cost of getting it wrong
Summary conviction
- Route
- Prosecuted summarily, often by the WRC
- Fine
- Up to €3,000
- Prison
- Up to 12 months
- Extras
- WRC can recover investigation costs on conviction
- Who is liable
- Employer and employee can both be prosecuted
Conviction on indictment
Serious cases- Route
- Trial on indictment for serious or repeat breaches
- Fine
- Up to €250,000
- Prison
- Up to 10 years
- Extras
- Separately, the Minister can sue to recompense an unpaid worker
- Who is liable
- Directors and officers personally, where they consented or connived
How the journey works
- 01
Build the compliance file on day one
Day 1For every permit hire, open a file holding the certified copy of the permit, the signed contract, the job description and dated copies of the right-to-work checks. Records must be kept for 5 years, or the full length of the employment if longer, and be available for inspection at your place of business.
- 02
Verify the right to work, then diarise it
Check the IRP card, confirm the stamp permits the work on offer, and copy both sides with the date of the check. Diarise the expiry. Taking all reasonable right-to-work checks is your statutory defence if a worker turns out not to be entitled to work.
- 03
Keep payroll aligned with the permit
MonthlyPay at least the remuneration stated on the permit. Only basic salary plus health insurance payments to a registered insurer count towards the threshold, not bonuses or shift allowances, and basic pay must never fall below the minimum wage of €14.15 per hour.
- 04
Report changes as they happen
A company name change or acquisition needs a Transfer of Undertaking Form. Short-time working or changed terms and conditions must be notified. If the employment ends, notify DETE and return the permit within 4 weeks. Unreported changes resurface at renewal.
- 05
Plan each renewal early
4 mths outThe renewal window opens 4 months before expiry, and renewals are currently the slowest standard queue at roughly 14 weeks, so file on day one of the window. Check the salary still clears the threshold in force, and confirm the 50:50 workforce balance still holds.
- 06
Stay inspection-ready
AnnuallyOnce a year, run the drill. Pull a permit holder's file, check the records are complete and dated, review working time records for any student workers, and confirm your Employment Permits Online account verification is current. We run this audit with you.
What to gather
Start collecting these early. Weak or missing documents are the most common avoidable cause of delays and refusals.
Certified copy of each permit
The employer's copy, issued when the permit grants
Signed employment contract
Matching the salary and role on the permit
Right-to-work copies
Both sides of the IRP card, dated at hire and each renewal
Passport copy
Bio page for each permit holder
Payslips and payroll records
Proving pay at or above the permit salary
Working time records
Essential for Stamp 2 students on the 20-hour term limit
Job description on file
Consistent with the occupation named on the permit
Revenue and CRO documents
Kept current on your Employment Permits Online account
Labour market test evidence
Retain the 28-day advert records from the original application
DETE correspondence
Notifications, Transfer of Undertaking forms, cessation emails
Every case is different. We confirm your exact list at consultation.
What it costs
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Permit and renewal fees | Employer's cost | You may pay them, but section 55 bans recovering a cent from the worker. |
| WRC fixed payment notice | Up to €2,000 | On-the-spot notice from an inspector, payable within 42 days. |
| Summary conviction | Up to €3,000 | And/or up to 12 months in prison, plus WRC investigation costs on conviction. |
| Conviction on indictment | Up to €250,000 | And/or up to 10 years in prison for employing someone without a valid permit. |
| False or misleading information | Up to €50,000 | And/or up to 5 years, plus revocation of the permit. |
| Our compliance review | Fixed fee | Agreed up front at booking, no surprises. |
Penalty ceilings are set by the Employment Permits Act 2024 and can change. Separately, where someone worked without a permit and went unpaid or underpaid, the Minister can sue the employer to recompense the worker. Prevention is dramatically cheaper.
How long it takes
Guide figures from current official processing information. Individual cases vary.
Notify a cessation
4 weeks
From the day the employment ends, notify DETE and return the permit. Missing it is an offence.
Renewal window
4 months
Opens 4 months before expiry and closes 1 month after. Renewals currently take about 14 weeks, so file early.
IRP renewal grace
12 weeks
An employee who applied before their card expired can keep working on existing conditions, extended from 8 weeks in January 2026.
Fixed payment notice
42 days
The deadline to pay a WRC on-the-spot notice of up to €2,000.
What leads to compliance issues
The patterns that trigger WRC inspections, complaints and employment-permit compliance problems — and how we design them out.
Permit costs recovered from the employee
Section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 prohibits deducting or recovering any permit charge, fee or expense from the worker, including through repayment clauses triggered by an early resignation. It is one of the most common WRC complaints, and the worker does not even need to still be employed to raise it.
Avoid it: Strip every permit-cost repayment clause out of your contract templates and treat the permit as a cost of the hire. If a deduction has already been made, we help you correct and reimburse it before it becomes a complaint.
Pay slips below the salary on the permit
You must pay at least the remuneration stated on the permit, meet the minimum annual remuneration in force at renewal, and never let basic pay fall below the National Minimum Wage. Bonuses and shift allowances do not count towards the threshold, so a salary can drift below it quietly as thresholds are indexed upward each year.
Avoid it: Run an annual salary review against both the permit figure and the current threshold, and keep payslips that clearly evidence pay at or above it.
Working-time rules quietly breached
The Organisation of Working Time Act caps average weekly hours, mandates rest breaks and daily and weekly rest, and requires you to keep the records that prove it. Excessive hours, missed breaks or absent working-time records are a frequent trigger for WRC complaints and inspections, and they bite hardest with Stamp 2 students on the 20-hour term-time limit.
Avoid it: Keep accurate working-time and rest-break records for every worker, and monitor student hours across all their employers, not just yours.
Required employment records not kept
Records of each permit holder's employment, including the permit particulars, must be kept for the statutory retention period of five years, or the full length of the employment if longer, and be available for inspection at your premises. A missing or incomplete file removes your statutory defence and turns a routine inspection into an adverse one.
Avoid it: Open a complete, dated file on day one for every permit hire and store it where it can be produced immediately when an inspector calls.
Written terms of employment provided late or not at all
Employees are entitled to the core terms of employment in writing within the first five days, and the full written statement of terms within one month. Missing that window is a standalone breach an employee can bring to the WRC, entirely separate from anything to do with the permit itself.
Avoid it: Issue the day-five core terms and the one-month full statement as a fixed step in onboarding, and keep the signed copies on the employment file.
Working outside the conditions of the permit
A permit is tied to a specific occupation and a specific employer. Letting the person do materially different duties, or work for a different legal entity than the one named on the permit, breaches the permit conditions and puts renewal, and the permit itself, at risk. Unnotified name changes, mergers and restructures create the same exposure.
Avoid it: Keep duties aligned with the occupation on the permit, and notify DETE promptly of any name change, transfer of undertaking or change in terms so the permit stays valid against the correct entity.
Common questions
What records do I have to keep, and for how long?+
Records of each permit holder's employment, including the permit particulars, for 5 years or for the full duration of the employment if that is longer. They must be available for inspection by authorised officers at your place of business, so keep them organised and retrievable, not scattered across inboxes.
Can I recover the permit fee from the employee if they leave early?+
No. Section 55 of the Employment Permits Act 2024 prohibits deducting or recovering any application charge, fee or expense connected with the permit from the worker, and that includes repayment clauses triggered by early resignation. The €1,000 fee on a standard two-year permit stays with whoever paid it.
An employee on a permit has resigned. What do I do?+
Notify DETE within 4 weeks of the employment ending and return the permit; a PDF copy emailed to the employment permits section is accepted. Failing to notify is an offence. If the ending was a redundancy rather than a resignation, the worker then has up to 6 months to find a new qualifying role.
What actually happens in a WRC inspection?+
Inspectors often arrive unannounced and can examine employment records at the place of business. They can issue fixed payment notices of up to €2,000, payable within 42 days, and can prosecute; on conviction the WRC can also recover its investigation costs, and Garda search warrants are available where illegal working is suspected. An employer with a complete, dated file has a very different inspection to one without.
What are the penalties for employing someone without a valid permit?+
On summary conviction, a fine of up to €3,000 and/or up to 12 months in prison. On conviction on indictment, up to €250,000 and/or up to 10 years. Both the employer and the employee can be liable, and directors and officers are personally exposed where the offence was committed with their consent or connivance.
My employee's IRP card has expired but the renewal is pending. Can they keep working?+
Yes, provided they applied to renew before the card expired. Since January 2026 they can remain on their existing conditions for up to 12 weeks while the renewal is processed, extended from the previous 8 weeks. Keep proof of the in-time renewal application on file next to the copy of the expired card.
Do I need a new permit to promote a permit holder?+
Usually not. Since the Employment Permits Act 2024, a promotion or internal transfer that uses the same skills does not need a fresh permit application and is assessed at the next renewal instead. Document the change carefully. A move into a genuinely different occupation is another matter, and needs a full new permit application.
We are changing the company name. Does that affect our permits?+
Yes. A change of the employer's name, including after a merger or acquisition, must be notified to DETE using the Transfer of Undertaking Form so each permit stays valid against the correct legal entity. Unnotified changes are one of the most common reasons renewals run into trouble.
Grounded in official sources
Ready to talk through your next step?
Book a consultation with our team and leave with a clear, personal plan grounded in the official rules.
Related services