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New Starters and Leavers Ireland

Processed cleanly from day one. No gaps, no delays, no compliance lag.

Every time someone joins your business or leaves it, a set of specific payroll obligations is triggered. New starters must be added to payroll correctly on their first pay run, using the correct Revenue Payroll Notification (RPN). Leavers must be processed with a Final Payroll Submission on their last run. Getting either wrong creates real-time errors in Revenue's records that are time-consuming to correct.

What are your obligations when staff join or leave?

When a new employee joins, you must register the employment with Revenue, retrieve their RPN to determine their correct tax credits and cut-off points, add them to payroll, and include them in the PSR on their first pay date. If you pay a new starter without retrieving their RPN, you will likely deduct the wrong amount of tax — either too much (emergency tax) or too little.

When an employee leaves, process their final pay run and mark it as a cessation on the PSR. This is done within the normal payroll submission process. Issue the final payslip. Revenue updates the employee's record automatically. You do not issue a P45 — that form was abolished with PAYE Modernisation. Revenue generates the employee's employment record automatically.

What Irish employers are required to do

  • Register new employees with Revenue before or on their first pay date
  • Retrieve the employee's RPN before processing their first payroll run
  • Include new starters in the PSR on their first pay date
  • Determine the correct PRSI class for each new employee, including directors
  • On the employee's last pay run, mark it as a cessation on the PSR. This is done within the normal payroll submission, not as a separate process
  • Process all outstanding leave, expenses, and deductions in the final pay run
  • Issue a payslip for the final pay period

Where most employers are not yet up to speed

These are the errors CBCR finds most often when reviewing payroll for new clients:

  • Not retrieving the RPN before the first pay run — resulting in emergency tax being applied incorrectly
  • Incorrect PRSI class on day one. This applies particularly to proprietary directors and workers on non-standard contracts
  • Adding a new starter to payroll but not including them in the PSR on their first run
  • Forgetting to file a Final Payroll Submission — leaving the employment open in Revenue's records
  • Processing a leaver's final pay incorrectly — missing outstanding leave pay or incorrect deductions
  • Not updating payroll software after a leaver — resulting in them appearing on subsequent payroll runs

How CBCR handles it

CBCR processes every new starter from their first pay date — retrieving the RPN, confirming the correct PRSI class, and including them in the PSR on time. Every leaver is processed with a Final Payroll Submission on their last run, with all outstanding pay correctly calculated. You tell us who is joining or leaving and when — we handle everything from there.

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Book a free Payroll Health Check — 30 minutes, no obligation. We review this and every other compliance area — and tell you exactly where you stand. No obligation.

Frequently asked questions

Emergency tax is applied when Revenue does not have the employee's tax credit information on file — or when the employer hasn't retrieved the employee's RPN. It results in the employee paying significantly more tax than they should. The fix is simple: always retrieve the RPN before the employee's first pay run.
No. P45s were abolished with the introduction of PAYE Modernisation in January 2019. When an employee leaves, you file a Final Payroll Submission indicating it is their last pay period. Revenue generates the employee's employment record automatically. The employee accesses their income details through myAccount.
It depends on whether the director is a proprietary director — one who owns more than a level of control that makes them a proprietary director. This is assessed case by case. PRSI class for directors is determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into account factors including control and employment status. Not all directors are Class S. Some may remain Class A depending on their specific circumstances. This should be assessed individually for each director.
You must include a new employee in the PSR on or before their first pay date. If they start mid-period, you may need to run an additional payroll cycle or include them in the next scheduled run — depending on your payroll frequency.
You still have the same payroll obligations. Process their final pay, including any outstanding holiday pay they are legally entitled to — and file the Final Payroll Submission. The fact that they left without notice does not alter your payroll reporting requirements.

Official Revenue & Government resources

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