The Irish government has signed the Employment Permits Act 2024 into law, bringing new changes to the employment permit system.

Key Points:

• The new act, signed into law on June 25, aims to consolidate and modernize existing law on the employment permit system within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
• The act contains several key provisions to introduce a new employment permit for seasonal workers and dependents, streamline the labor market testing process and modify change of employer rules, among other changes.
• Seasonal employment permit: A new seasonal employment permit category will be developed to facilitate non-European Economic Area nationals’ seasonally recurrent employment that will occur for specified periods in the year. A pilot scheme will run in 2025 and will be limited to specific employers, with specific conditions.
• Revision of labor market testing: Employers will only be required to advertise a position on two online platforms, one of which is EURES (JobsIreland.ie).
• Changes in employer: General or critical skills employment permit holders will be able to apply to amend their employer, after a period of nine months has elapsed.

Background: Ireland continues to make significant changes to their employment-based immigration system to modernize its systems and relax certain restrictive policies. The government recently updated the eligibility requirements for Stamp 4 permissions, instating a more relaxed eligibility framework, as well as announced that eligible spouses and partners of certain employment permit holders will now be granted automatic employment eligibility without the need for a separate permit. Finally, Irish authorities are currently undertaking the largest-ever expansion of the employment permits system and announced sweeping changes to key immigration programs to make it easier for non-EU/EEA nationals to work in key jobs in Ireland.

BAL Analysis: The Irish government is focusing on balancing the rights of workers with the needs of businesses. The new act, when implemented, should make it easier for employers to attract talent. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment will need to sign a commencement order for the act to take effect and an implementation timeline has not yet been provided. BAL will continue to follow immigration developments and will provide updates as information becomes available.