Paid and unpaid breaks in Ireland
What you are entitled to, and why it is usually unpaid.
Rest breaks are a health and safety entitlement rather than a perk, which is why the law is firm about the minimum and silent about the money.
The breaks
You are entitled to a 15-minute break after four and a half hours of work, and a 30-minute break after six hours. The 30-minute break can include the earlier 15 minutes, so a standard eight-hour shift attracts 30 minutes in total rather than 45.
Shop workers who work more than six hours and whose hours include 11:30 to 14:30 are entitled to a one-hour consecutive break in that window.
Daily and weekly rest
Separately from breaks within a shift, you are entitled to 11 consecutive hours of rest in any 24, and to a 24-hour rest period each week — or two 24-hour periods in the following week if one is missed.
Are they paid?
Generally no. There is no legal right to be paid for statutory rest breaks and they are not counted as working time. Many contracts pay them anyway, and some sectors have collective agreements that do — but the default is unpaid.
The one clear statutory exception is breastfeeding breaks, which are paid for the first 104 weeks after the birth.
What that costs over a year
Half an hour unpaid, five days a week, is 2.5 hours a week. At €14.15 an hour that is roughly €1,840 a year of time at the workplace you are not paid for. It is not a deduction and it is not unlawful — but it belongs in the comparison when you weigh one job against another.