Registering as an Employer in Ireland: Employer PRSI, Payroll and Your First Employee

Taking on your first employee means new paperwork: registering with Revenue as an employer, running payroll every payday, and paying employer PRSI on top of wages.

Many founders don't realise that a director drawing a salary from their own company counts too. This guide covers when you need to register, the current employer PRSI rates, how payroll Ireland rules work under PAYE Modernisation, and what to sort out before your first payday.

Do you need to register as an employer?

You need to register if your company pays anyone a wage or salary. That includes:

• your first employee, whether full-time or part-time
• a director's salary, even when there are no other staff

A company must register and operate PAYE on directors' pay even if nobody else works there. If you plan to pay yourself a salary, read our guide to paying yourself from a limited company first.

You must be registered before you make the first payment, so allow time before the first payday.

How to register as an employer with Revenue

Most companies register online through eRegistration in ROS. To use it, the company must already be registered for ROS. If you can't use eRegistration, there are paper forms: Form TR2 for a company registering for tax for the first time, or Form PREM Reg if the company is already registered for Corporation Tax.

Directors paid through payroll need a PPSN, so check our notes on PPSN requirements for directors if anyone on your board lives abroad.

If you would rather hand this over, our tax registration service can take care of it.

Employer PRSI rates in Ireland

To answer what is employer PRSI: it is the social insurance contribution your company pays on each employee's earnings, on top of their gross pay. It is separate from the employee's own PRSI, which you deduct from their wages.

Employer PRSI rates and thresholds table

The rate depends on the employee's weekly earnings, and the rates are rising in stages. The current Class A employer PRSI rates are:

Once weekly pay goes over €552, the higher rate applies to the whole week's pay. Budget 2027 has announced that the €552 threshold will rise to €600 in 2027.

On the employee side, the Class A rate rose from 4.2% to 4.35% on 1 October 2026. Employees earning €352 a week or less pay no PRSI themselves, and a tapered PRSI credit applies between €352.01 and €424 a week.

How to calculate employer PRSI

Here is how to calculate employers PRSI for a pay week after 1 October 2026:

• Employee A earns €500 a week. That is under €552, so the rate is 9.15%: €500 × 9.15% = €45.75.
• Employee B earns €700 a week. That is over €552, so 11.4% applies to the full amount: €700 × 11.4% = €79.80.

That is how much PRSI does an employer pay each week, so budget an extra 9.15% to 11.4% on top of a new hire's gross pay.

Directors and PRSI class

Directors who control their company are usually insured under Class S. Where Class S applies, there is no employer PRSI on the director's salary, although the director's own PRSI is still collected through payroll. Directors with smaller shareholdings may be Class A. If you are unsure, the Department of Social Protection decides which class applies.

How payroll works under PAYE Modernisation

Every payday:

1. 1Download a Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN) for each employee. It tells you their tax credits, rate band and USC position.
2. 2Calculate pay, PAYE, USC and PRSI.
3. 3Send a payroll submission to Revenue on or before the date you pay your staff.

Revenue builds a monthly statement from your submissions, which is treated as your return by the 14th of the following month. Payment is due by the 14th, or the 23rd if you file and pay through ROS.

Small benefits, the remote working daily allowance and travel and subsistence are reported separately under Enhanced Reporting Requirements, on or before the date you pay them. Our first-year compliance calendar shows where these dates sit alongside your other deadlines.

First employee checklist

Before your first payday:

• Give the employee their core terms of employment in writing within 5 days of starting, and the rest within one month.
• Get their PPSN and download their RPN.
• Pay at least the national minimum wage, which is currently €14.15 an hour.
• Issue a payslip every payday.
• Record working hours and annual leave.
• Check pension auto-enrolment. MyFutureFund began on 1 January 2026 for employees aged 23 to 60 earning €20,000 or more who aren't in a payroll pension.

Run payroll yourself or outsource it?

You can run payroll software in-house, use a payroll bureau, or have your bookkeeper run it with your books. Doing it yourself suits one or two staff on fixed pay. Once you have overtime, varying hours or benefits to report, mistakes such as late submissions or wrong PRSI classes get expensive. That is when payroll outsourcing Ireland options are worth comparing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Get your payroll set up properly

We can register your company as an employer, run payroll and keep it in step with your books through our bookkeeping and payroll support. It's a simple form of payroll outsourcing Ireland businesses can scale with. If you haven't formed your company yet, click here to get an instant company formation quote.