Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) for Early Years
If you work in an Irish creche, preschool, or after-school service, your payslip should look different since October 2025. And if it does not, your employer is breaking the law.
On 13 October 2025, new rules came into force that set the legal minimum pay for thousands of workers in the early years sector. The rules are called Employment Regulation Orders, or EROs for short. They are not suggestions. They are not guidelines. They are law .
The changes put an average of 10 percent more into the pockets of early years educators and school-age childcare practitioners. And here is the important part: if your employer is paying you less than the rates set out in these orders, you can report them to the Workplace Relations Commission .
This guide breaks down what the EROs actually say, who they cover, and what it means for your weekly wage.
What Exactly Is an ERO?
An Employment Regulation Order is a legal document that sets minimum pay rates and working conditions for a specific industry. In Ireland, there are only three sectors with active EROs: contract cleaning, security, and early learning and childcare .
The process works like this. A group called the Joint Labour Committee sits down and negotiates. This committee has equal numbers of employer representatives and worker representatives. They agree on what the minimum rates should be .
Their proposal goes to the Labour Court. If the Labour Court approves it, it goes to a government minister. The minister signs it into law. That is when it becomes an ERO .
The key point for workers is this: once an ERO is signed, your employer cannot pay you less than the minimum rate for your role. They can pay you more. They cannot pay you less .
Why Are There Two Different Orders?
This is where it gets a little confusing, so let us keep it simple.
The early years sector has two separate EROs. They are split based on the type of job you do.
S.I. No. 477 of 2025 covers Early Years Educators and School Age Childcare Practitioners. These are the people who spend most of their working day directly with children .
S.I. No. 478 of 2025 covers everyone else in a leadership or management role. That includes Lead Educators, School Age Childcare Coordinators, Deputy Managers, Assistant Managers, Centre Managers, and Graduate Centre Managers .
The reason for the split is simple. Different jobs have different levels of responsibility. Different levels of responsibility have different minimum pay rates.
If you are not sure which order applies to you, look at your job title. If you are an educator or a practitioner, it is 477. If you are a room leader, coordinator, or manager, it is 478.
The Actual Pay Rates: What You Should Be Earning
Here are the minimum hourly rates that came into effect on 13 October 2025. These apply to all working hours, including both contact hours with children and non-contact hours like planning and cleaning .
Early Years Educators and School Age Childcare Practitioners: €15.00 per hour .
Lead Educators (Room Leaders) and School Age Childcare Coordinators: €16.00 per hour .
Graduate Lead Educators and Graduate School Age Childcare Coordinators: €17.50 per hour. This rate applies to workers who hold a minimum QQI Level 7 qualification or equivalent .
Deputy Managers and Assistant Managers: €18.00 per hour .
Centre Managers: €19.00 per hour .
Graduate Centre Managers: €20.25 per hour. Again, this requires a minimum QQI Level 7 qualification .
To put this in perspective, the old minimum for an Early Years Educator was €13.65 per hour. The new rate is €15.00. That is an increase of €1.35 per hour .
For a 35-hour week, that is an extra €47.25 per week. Over a year, that is nearly €2,500 more in your pocket before tax.
What About Younger Workers?
The EROs have special rules for workers under the age of 20. They are paid a percentage of the full adult rate, based on their age .
For an Early Years Educator:
Under 18: 70 percent of €15.00, which is €10.50 per hour .
Age 18: 80 percent of €15.00, which is €12.00 per hour .
Age 19: 90 percent of €15.00, which is €13.50 per hour .
Age 20 and over: The full rate of €15.00 per hour .
The same percentage system applies to the other roles, just with a higher starting rate.
Who Is Not Covered?
The EROs do not apply to everyone working in a childcare service. They only cover the people doing the core early years and school-age childcare work.
Administrative staff, kitchen staff, cleaners, and other ancillary workers are not covered. Their pay is set by their contract and the national minimum wage, but not by these specific EROs .
If you are in one of these roles, the national minimum wage still applies to you. But the higher early years rates do not.
What About Existing Contracts?
Here is a question many workers ask: what if my contract already says I earn more than the ERO rate?
The answer is simple. Your contract stays the same. The ERO sets a floor, not a ceiling. If you were already earning above the new minimum, your employer does not have to give you a raise. They can if they want to, but they are not required to .
However, if your contract says you earn less than the new minimum, your employer must increase your pay to match the ERO. They cannot use your old contract as an excuse to underpay you .
What About the Cost for Employers?
The government knows that increasing pay means increasing costs for childcare providers. To help with this, they created something called the Staff Funding Additional Contribution .
This is extra money added to Core Funding, the main grant that services receive. The €45 million allocated for this purpose is ring-fenced, which means it can only be used to help services pay the higher wages .
The system works through the Early Years Hive. Partner services had to submit a Core Funding Application Change between 13 and 19 October 2025 to activate the additional funding. Services that missed the window received a reduced number of allocation weeks .
The idea is simple. The government does not want the pay increase to be passed on to parents as higher fees. The extra funding is there to cover the cost.
What Happens If Your Employer Does Not Pay?
If you believe your employer is not paying you the correct ERO rate, you have options.
First, talk to your employer. Sometimes mistakes happen. Maybe they misread the order. Maybe they forgot to update their payroll system. A conversation can often solve the problem.
If that does not work, you can contact the Workplace Relations Commission. The WRC is the body that handles employment law complaints in Ireland. You can file a complaint online or by post. There is no fee .
You can also talk to your trade union if you are a member. They can advise you on your rights and help you take action if needed.
What About the Future?
The EROs that came into effect in October 2025 are not the end of the story.
In September 2026, the Joint Labour Committee put forward new proposals for another increase. This one would be over 6 percent on average. Minister Norma Foley has welcomed these proposals and committed €45 million in ring-fenced funding to support them .
If those proposals become new EROs, the minimum rates will go up again. The process is the same. The Joint Labour Committee negotiates. The Labour Court reviews. The minister signs. The new rates become law.
For now, the October 2025 rates are what you should be paid. If you are earning less, you are being underpaid.
Early Years Ireland is an independent digital publication. We are not affiliated with any representative body or trade union. This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice. For personalised advice about your pay, contact the Workplace Relations Commission or your trade union.
