DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) [ S.L. 452.170] SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.170 DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) REGULATION ORDER * LEGAL NOTICE 142 of 2026. 1.
(1)The title of this order is the Domestic Service (Conditions of Work) Regulation Order. Citation, commencement and applicability.
(2)This order shall come into force within two
(2)months from its date of publication in the Gazette.
(3)The provisions established in this order shall apply to all in private households engaged in domestic duties, such as servants, maids, housekeepers, cooks, butlers, valets, handymen, cleaners, charwomen, washerwomen, babysitters, nursemaids and other persons employed in related work, including chauffeurs, gardeners and similar occupations connected with the household: Provided that in the event that there is a collective agreement applicable to the class of employees covered by this order, the more favourable conditions in that agreement or in this order shall apply: Provided further that in this sub-article ''private households'' includes charitable institutions, monasteries and convents but does not include any hospital, clinic, nursing home, institute of medico-surgical treatment, maternity home or hydropathic establishment, home for elderly persons or schools run by any such households. 2. In this order, unless the context otherwise requires: Interpretation. "Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Cap. 452. Act; "collective agreement" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act; "customary holidays" means the days, other than Sundays, declared for the time being to be public holidays under the National Holidays and other Public Holidays Act; "day" means a period of twenty-four
(24)consecutive hours; "double pay" means double the actual day’s pay *Not yet in force. Cap.
- 1 2 [ S.L. 452.170] DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) applicable to an employee; "double time" means twice the actual time rate applicable to the employee; "hours of work" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act; "meals" means morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and supper; "part-time employee" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act; "time and a half" means one and a half times the actual time rate applicable to the employee; "wages" means remuneration or earnings, payable by an employer to an employee and includes any bonus payable under article 23 of the Act other than any bonus or allowance related to performance or production; "week" means a calendar week; "whole-time employee" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act. Main groups of domestic workers.
- For the purposes of this order, there shall be six
(6)groups of workers in domestic service, as follows: (a) GROUP 1 shall consist of workers engaged on a monthly basis who sleep in their employer’s house on not less than seventeen
(17)nights in any month; (b) GROUP 2 shall consist of workers engaged on a monthly basis who sleep in their employer’s house on less than seventeen
(17)nights in any month or not at all; (c) GROUP 3 shall consist of workers engaged on a weekly basis who sleep in their employer’s house on not less than four
(4)nights in any week; (d) GROUP 4 shall consist of workers engaged on a weekly basis who sleep in their employer’s house on less than four
(4)nights any week or not at all; (
- e)GROUP 5 shall consist of workers who are engaged on a daily basis; (
- f)GROUP 6 shall consist of workers who are engaged on an hourly basis. DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) [ S.L. 452.170] 4. The hours of work of workers in Groups 1 and 3 on days when they do not sleep in their employer’s house, of workers in Groups 2 and 4 on such days, and of workers in Group 5, shall not exceed eight
(8)in any day but not more than forty
(40)hours in any week, exclusive of breaks for meals and rest. 5. The minimum wages of workers shall be as follows: Whole-time employees Workers in Group 1 Workers in Group 2 Workers in Group 3 Workers in Group 4 Part-time employees Workers in Group 5 Workers in Group 6 3 Hours of work. Minimum wages. €1,016.37 per month €1,000.08 per month €234.68 per week €232.93 per week €38.82 per day €5.82 per hour: Provided that where employment exceeds four
(4)hours in any one
(1)day payment shall in no case be less than the equivalent of a day’s work: Provided further that any part-time worker who qualifies as a whole-time employee in accordance with article 4 shall be entitled to the full weekly wage applicable under this article, notwithstanding that the worker works for less than six
(6)days. 6.
(1)Workers in Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 on days when they do not sleep in their employer’s house and workers in Group 5 shall be entitled to payment at time-and-a-half for all time worked in excess of eight
(8)hours on normal days and for all time worked in excess of forty
(40)hours in any one week. Minimum overtime remuneration.
(2)Workers who work on a customary holiday shall be entitled to double pay for one day’s work and payment at double time for all time worked in excess of eight
(8)hours.
(3)Workers who work on their weekly day of rest shall be entitled to payment at double-time for all time worked. 7.
(1)Workers in Groups 1 and 3, on days when they sleep in their employer’s house, and workers in Groups 2 and 4 on such days shall be entitled to all meals; and on those days when they do not sleep in their employer’s house, they shall be entitled to all meals except supper.
(2)supper. Workers in Group 5 shall be entitled to all meals except
(3)Workers in Group 6 shall be entitled to coffee or tea after working for not less than two
(2)hours and shall be further entitled to Meals. 4 [ S.L. 452.170] DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) lunch or supper, as the case may be, after working in the aggregate for not less than five
(5)hours.
(4)Workers in Groups 1 and 3 on days when they do not sleep in their employer’s house, workers in Groups 2 and 4 on such days and workers in Group 5, shall be entitled to supper when their hours of work in excess of eight
(8)in any day exceed three
(3): Provided that workers in Groups 1 and 2 shall have fortyeight euro thirty-six cents (€48.36) deducted monthly from their minimum wage, workers in Groups 3 and 4 shall have eleven euro and sixteen cents (€11.16) deducted weekly from their minimum wage, and workers in Group 5 shall have one euro eighty-six cents (€1.86) deducted daily from their minimum wage, as compensation for meals to which they shall be entitled as aforesaid: Provided further that workers in Group 6 shall have no deduction from their minimum wage as compensation for meals to which they may be entitled as long as they are not entitled to a day’s pay in which case they shall have one euro and sixty-one cents (€1.61) deducted from their minimum wage: Provided further that workers in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall not be considered to have made use of their right to any meals as aforesaid during periods of customary holidays, leave and sick leave to which they are entitled, and a relevant deduction in compensation for meals shall be made from their minimum wage: Provided further that if workers do not avail themselves of their right to any meals as aforesaid, they shall not be entitled to any pecuniary compensation in substitution therefor.Uniform allowance. 8.
(1)When the employee is required to wear a uniform in the performance of his duties, such uniform shall be provided by the employer free of any charge. S.L. 646.13.
(2)Personal protective equipment according to the Minimum Requirements for the Use of Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations shall also be provided by the employer free of charge. Minimum daily rest. 9.
(1)Workers in Groups l and 3 on days when they sleep in their employer’s house and workers in Groups 2 and 4 on such days, shall be entitled to a minimum daily rest period of three
(3)hours in the aggregate in every day, the time or times of such rest to be fixed by the employer in agreement with the employee.
(2)Workers in Groups 1 and 3 on days when they do not sleep in their employer’s house and workers in Groups 2 and 4 on such days, and workers in Group 5, shall be allowed intervals for meals and rest of not less than forty-five
(45)minutes in the aggregate on any one day. DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) [ S.L. 452.170] 10. Workers in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall be entitled to a day’s rest in every week, such day of rest shall be determined by the employer in agreement with the employee: Minimum weekly rest. Provided that in special cases with the consent of both employer and employee, a worker shall be entitled to a holiday of a number of days equivalent to the number of weekly days of rest not availed of, as long as such days do not exceed seven
(7)days.
- All employees shall be entitled to annual leave according to the Organisation of Working Time Regulations. Vacation leave. S.L. 452.
- 12.
(1)Every whole-time employee in Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall in every calendar year be entitled to the equivalent in hours of fourteen
(14)days sick leave on full pay, less an amount equal to the sum established for sickness benefit entitlement at the rate determined in accordance with the Social Security Act, and part-time employees shall have a pro rata entitlement to sick leave in hours on full pay, less an amount equal to the sum established for sickness benefit entitlement at the rate determined in accordance with the Social Security Act, which amount shall also be calculated on a pro rata basis: Sick leave. Cap. 318. Provided that: (a) the first three
(3)days of any claim for sick leave shall be paid in full by the employer; (b) a medical certificate covering the period of absence shall be submitted to the employer on the day of return to work or, if such period of sick leave is longer than seven
(7)days, within seven
(7)days from the commencement of such absence due to sick leave; (c) employees receiving a social security pension in respect of retirement or widowhood in accordance with the Social Security Act shall, for the purpose of calculating the sick leave payment due, shall be deemed to have received an amount equal to the sum established for sickness benefit entitlement at the rate determined in accordance with the Social Security Act.
(2)The employer may require a medical certificate by a physician of his choice to certify that the worker is unfit for work during the period of sick leave.
(3)Sick leave entitlements provided shall apply from the first day of employment: Provided that the said entitlements shall be calculated pro rata according to the date of employment in the relative calender. 5 Cap. 318. 6 [ S.L. 452.170] DOMESTIC SERVICE (CONDITIONS OF WORK) S.L. 452.87.
(4)The sick leave entitlement shall be calculated on the basis provided for annual leave as specified in regulation 8
(1)of the Organisation of Working Time Regulations. Other forms of leave. S.L. 452.
- Employees falling under Groups 1, 2, 3 or 4 shall be entitled to the national holidays and to all public holidays with full pay, to all forms of leave according to the Minimum Special Leave Entitlement Regulations and all other forms of leave that may, from time to time, be stipulated in the National Standard Orders or regulations made under the Act. Repeal and saving. S.L. 452.22. S.L. 452.
- The Domestic Service Wages Council Order and the Domestic Service Wages Council Wage Regulation Order are hereby repealed without prejudice to anything done or omitted to be done thereunder.