Sun, Fun, and Payroll Runs: HR’s Guide to Managing Summer Holidays in Ireland

Updated for Summer 2025

Summer is just around the corner, and these months are a very popular time in Ireland for employees to take some well-deserved annual leave. While Summer holidays are a wonderful time for employees to relax and recharge, for HR managers, it can be a tricky time to keep up productivity, juggle a surge of holiday requests, all the while ensuring compliance with ever evolving employment laws.  

In Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) case from 2024, a car salesman won €12,500 for unfair dismissal after being fired upon returning from an “unauthorised” holiday where he encountered his bosses. During the case the Claimant asserted that his annual leave request was not clearly approved nor rejected. 

This kind of nightmare scenario can be avoided with some top tips that we have put together for HR managers, to take the stress out of the holiday season.

In Ireland, employees are entitled to a minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave per year, as stipulated by the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997. Many workers will opt to take at least some of this leave over the summer period. It is worth noting that if an employee has worked for at least eight months, they’re entitled to an unbroken period of two weeks' annual leave. 

Related Blog: Annual Leave Entitlements in Ireland: A Practical Guide for Employers

Advance notice and clear communication, as in most things, will be your best friend in plotting annual leave fairly and accurately in the run-up to holidays.

• Early Planning: Encourage employees to submit their holiday requests early. This helps in planning work schedules and ensuring adequate coverage for the team. 
• Transparent Policies: Ensure that your holiday policy is clear and accessible. It should outline how holiday requests are submitted, approved, and any restrictions during peak business periods. 
• Regular Communication: Use multiple channels to communicate holiday policies and deadlines. Regular reminders can help prevent last-minute rushes. 
• Conflict Resolution: Have a clear process for resolving conflicts when multiple employees request the same holiday period. This could involve seniority, departmental needs, or previous holiday history. 

Creating policies that serve both employee and employer are key when it comes to making sure that your staff are free to make the travel plans that suit them best, while also ensuring that business can continue to run as usual.

• Fair Allocation: Implement a fair system for approving holidays, such as a first-come, first-served basis or a rotation system to ensure everyone gets an opportunity to take time off during the peak summer period. 
• Cross-Training: Arrange extra training for staff, so that, where possible, staff members can provide coverage for one another if a key team member is on annual leave. This helps maintain productivity and reduces the impact of absences.
• Temporary Staff: Consider hiring temporary or seasonal workers to cover for employees on holiday. This can be particularly useful in industries with increased workload during the summer. 

Your employees have rights to time off, and with the Right To Disconnect, it's important to ensure that you're working hard for your employees to make sure that their time off is not hindered by requests for extra work or check ins.

• Record Keeping: Maintain accurate records of employee holidays, ensuring compliance with the Organisation of Working Time Act. This includes tracking holiday accrual, usage, and carryover. 
• Public Holidays: Ensure that employees are compensated correctly for public holidays. This could be in the form of a paid day off, an extra day’s pay, or an additional day of annual leave. Making sure that this information is all accurately tracked by your payroll teams is a direct route to both compliance and also a far happier and accurately paid employee!
• Part-Time Employees: Ensure that part-time employees receive their proportional holiday entitlements. Their leave should be calculated based on the number of hours they work. 

• Encouraging Rest: Promote the importance of taking holidays for mental and physical wellbeing. Encourage employees to disconnect completely during their time off, as they need this time to rest and recharge. 
• Embrace Workations: Consider offering workation options, allowing employees to work remotely from vacation locations. This flexibility can enhance work-life balance and employee satisfaction.​
• Remote Working Options: If it’s feasible for your business, offer flexible working arrangements such as remote working or adjusted hours during the summer. This can help employees manage work-life balance more effectively. 

At SD Worx Ireland, we are proponants of a good workation, where one is available. Workations are one of the perks of life at SD Worx and we have found them to be an excellent way for our staff to enjoy an even better work-life balance. 

Learn more here: Navigating Workation Policies in Ireland | SD Worx

Time and Attendance Software: Investing in time and attendance software, like that offered by SD Worx, can streamline the management of employee leave. This software can automate holiday requests, approvals, and tracking, reducing administrative burdens and ensuring accuracy in payroll calculations. Accurate leave tracking will be of huge benefit to your payroll team and ease the process of being paid correctly and on time for your employees, too.

Data Analytics: Use the data and analytics capabilities of time and attendance software to identify trends in holiday usage and plan better for future peak periods. This can help in making informed decisions about staffing and resource allocation in the future, such as the Christmas period. 

 

Managing summer holidays requires careful planning, clear communication, and a fair approach to balance the needs of employees and the business. By following these guidelines and using tools like SD Worx Time and Attendance Management Software, HR managers across Ireland can head off on their own holidays to unwind, disconnect and relax, safe in the knowledge that all is in hand back at the world of work.  

If you want to hit the beach this summer season without having to worry about all the leave requests you are juggling manually, and you’re interested in learning more about the Time and Attendance Management Solution that SD Worx has to offer, please get in touch and book a demo with our team here Time Tracking & Attendance Management Software | SD Worx Ireland 

 

Our intelligent time and attendance tracking system gives you real-time visibility into workforce capacity and staff availability, helping you cut down on wasted hours, manual tasks, and costly errors. With an intuitive cloud-based platform for employee and manager self-service, flexible service packages (SaaS, HaaS, and fully managed), seamless payroll and HR integration, and accurate data collection across web, terminal, and mobile, it’s built to streamline operations. Single sign-on access and a dedicated point of contact ensure a smooth experience from rollout onward.

 Ready to take the next step? Talk with our team todat and start driving efficiency across your business.