First published on Thursday, June 25, 2026
Last updated on Thursday, June 25, 2026
Gender Pay Gap Portal opens
Since last year, all companies with more than 50 employees have been required to publish gender pay gap reports on their own websites. And in November, they could upload them to a portal on a voluntary basis, which has now opened for public viewing. For the 2026 pay gap cycle, this will become mandatory.
So, what will this show? Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Norma Foley said “This publicly available information on the Gender Pay Gap Portal will encourage employers to meet their legal obligation to report on their gender pay gaps.”
The gender pay gap in Ireland has reduced from 14.4% in 2017 to a provisional figure of 8.3% in 2024. With the delay to the EU Pay Transparency Directive, public reporting of gender pay gaps is another step towards equal pay.
Higher legal threshold for contractual retirement ages
At the end of the month, the Contractual Retirement Ages Act 2025 comes into force. This is a new right for employees whose contracts have a set retirement age of 65 or under to notify their employer that they do not consent to retire.
The Act creates a higher legal threshold if employers propose to enforce the contractual retirement age. So, if you receive a notification, you must consider it carefully and be able to justify the decision if you enforce the contract.
You can prepare now by making sure you’re aware of the contractual retirement ages of everyone in your business, update procedures and handbooks to reflect the new procedures, provide training to your managers, and keep your records up to date.
When was the last time you updated your staff handbook? You can get up to date and legally compliant templates from BrightBase, the document library from BrightHR.
Hiring staff for the summer? Here’s what you need to know
Summer is here! And as many businesses are looking at hiring temp staff for the seasonal rush, there are a lot of considerations, from contracts to annual leave entitlement, breaks to training. And if you’ve ever tried calculating pro-rata annual leave, you’ll understand how complicated it can be.
If you haven’t joined one of our webcasts, now’s a great time. On Wednesday 8th July at 11:30am, we’re hosting ‘Summer Absence Management Made Simple for Business Owners’. Find out the difference between employee vs worker contracts, considerations for younger workers, and how to calculate annual leave. Book your free spot here.
And that’s a wrap from me. Tune in next time for my take on the latest headlines and employment law stories, helping keep your business ahead!
