by Ronan McCann, Employment Associate at A&L Goodbody LLP
Last summer, we published an article on the new Employment Permits Act 2024 (the Act) which was signed into law on 25 June 2024 and which came into effect in September 2024.
One key aspect of the Act was the creation of a Seasonal Employment Permit (the SEP), which has been introduced into the employment permits scheme to facilitate the employment of foreign nationals employed in a “seasonally recurrent employment”. The SEP was due to come into effect this year.
The ‘Employment Permits (Amendment) (Seasonal Employment) Regulations 2025’ (the 2025 Regulations) have now been published and came into operation on 19 February 2025.
The 2025 Regulations set out the operational aspects of this new employment permit. Its key features are detailed below:
- the seasonally recurrent employment for which a SEP may be granted is a horticultural operative in the soft fruit or vegetable growing sector
- the maximum period for which a SEP may be granted is seven months, with a possibility to renew same for a maximum period of up to three years
- the period during which an individual may be employed in the State pursuant to a SEP is from 14 April to 13 November each year
- the minimum amount of remuneration payable to a SEP holder must be equivalent to €30,000 per year, and an hourly rate of €14.79
- the minimum number of hours of work required to be worked in each week under a SEP is 30 hours
- the SEP will only be granted to employees of an “approved seasonal employer”. An approved seasonal employer must employ at least two SEP employees during their employer approval period
- only a maximum of six employers in the State will be granted ‘approved seasonal employer’ status in respect of a seasonal period in any year.
The SEP is currently in pilot form but may be expanded in scope in the future, which may result in the inclusion of more approved employers per year and potentially a greater breadth of eligible roles and sectors, so employers may wish to keep an eye on this scheme as a potential viable avenue for the recruitment of staff going forward.
The full text of the 2025 Regulations can be found here.
