Minimum wage in Ireland 2026 for café staff

Since 1 January 2026 the national minimum wage in Ireland is €14.15 an hour for anyone aged 20 and over. Staff under 20 have lower rates: €12.74 at 19, €11.32 at 18 and €9.91 under 18. It covers full-time, part-time, casual and seasonal workers, so the weekend student on the till is included. Basic pay, shift premiums or allowances, bonuses and service charges paid through the payroll count towards it. Tips do not, whether the customer hands them over or they come from a central fund.

What is the minimum wage in Ireland in 2026?

It is €14.15 an hour. Citizens Information says: "Since 1 January 2026, the national minimum wage is €14.15 per hour." The rule comes from the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) says it applies to full-time, part-time, temporary and casual employees and to seasonal workers.

That is the rate for staff aged 20 and over. The rest of the page covers the lower rates for younger staff.

What is the minimum wage for under 18s, 18 and 19 year olds?

The WRC sets out three lower rates from 1 January 2026, each a share of the €14.15:

Age	Hourly rate	Share of the minimum wage
Under 18	€9.91	70%
18	€11.32	80%
19	€12.74	90%
20 and over	€14.15	100%

The rate follows the employee's age. A 19-year-old on the till is on €12.74 as a minimum. Citizens Information adds that these are minimums: an employer can always offer more, and you cannot agree to be paid less than the minimum wage unless you are employed by a close family relative or are on a recognised apprenticeship.

What is 40 hours a week on minimum wage?

At €14.15 an hour, 40 hours comes to €566.00 a week. That is our own multiplication, 40 × €14.15, and it is gross pay before tax and other deductions. It is not a payslip.

Citizens Information says the hourly rate is gross pay divided by the hours worked, as set out in section 20 of the 2000 Act. The employer picks a pay reference period, which the WRC says may be a week but no longer than a month, and the average hourly rate over that period must not fall below the minimum.

Do tips count towards the minimum wage?

No. Citizens Information lists tips paid directly to the employee, and tips placed in a central fund and paid as part of wages, among the things that do not count. The WRC says the same of tips or gratuities paid into a central fund and paid through the payroll.

A service charge is different. Both bodies say a service charge given through the payroll does count, with one exception the WRC mentions: a charge distributed by the employer to which section 4D(1) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 applies. Check how your own service charge is handled before you count it.

The WRC also says these cannot be counted:

• premiums for overtime, public holidays, Saturdays, Sundays, unsocial hours or call out;
• allowances for special duties, such as a post of responsibility, or for being on call;
• payments in kind or benefits in kind (the WRC lists board and lodgings separately, as counting).

So a Sunday premium is a premium on top. It does not make up a shortfall in the base rate.

Both lists name shift pay as counting and unsocial hours premiums as not counting, and neither source says where one ends and the other begins. If you pay a supplement for early or late shifts, check with the WRC which side of the line it falls on before you count it towards the minimum.

Does staff food count towards the minimum wage?

It can, at a fixed value. The WRC and Citizens Information both say that where board, meaning meals, is part of the pay, €1.27 for each hour worked can be counted towards the minimum wage. Accommodation, if you provide it, counts at €33.42 a week or €4.77 a day.

Only the figure in the guidance counts, not what the food would cost on your menu. Any other payment in kind, a free bag of beans for example, does not count.

Who is not entitled to the minimum wage?

The WRC names two excluded groups: close relatives of an employer who is a sole trader, such as a spouse, parent, child or sibling, and craft apprentices within the meaning of the Industrial Training Act 1967. Citizens Information words its list differently (anyone employed by a close relative, and statutory apprenticeships) and also lists employees under 20, who are not left without a minimum but get the lower rates above.

Citizens Information says employers must pay the minimum wage to work experience placements, work trials, internships and other arrangements involving unpaid work or work for room and board.

Two more points from Citizens Information. An employee can ask in writing for a statement of their average hourly pay, and the employer has four weeks to give it. And the WRC says employers must keep records showing the minimum wage was paid, for three years.

Will the minimum wage change in 2027?

This page gives the rates in force since 1 January 2026 and does not predict the next ones. Citizens Information says Budget 2027 will be announced on Tuesday, 6 October 2026. Check the WRC page after that for any new rates.

Once the rota is sorted, our guide to getting your café on Google Maps covers another job for the same list.

Sources

• Workplace Relations Commission, National Minimum Wage, updated 2 January 2026, read 4 October 2026.
• Citizens Information, Minimum wage, read 4 October 2026.
• Citizens Information, Budget 2027, for the Budget date only, read 4 October 2026.

A summary of public guidance, not legal or payroll advice. Cupán Studio builds websites for Dublin cafés.