Changing employer

Change of employer - CSEP and GEP

The 2024 Act introduces a new provision allowing certain employment permit holders to change their permit employer to another employer after a period of nine months has passed since commencing their first employment permit in the State.

The provision eliminates the need for the permit holder to apply for a new permit and is restricted to movement within the occupation or occupation classification on the original permit.

The change of employer applies to the General Employment Permit (GEP) [link] and the Critical Skills Employment Permit (CSEP)

The holder of a GEP can apply to change to an employer within the type of employment for which they have been granted a permit (identified by its 4 digit SOC code). For example – a meat processing operative can move to another meat processing role.
The holder of a CSEP can change to an employer across a broader category of employments, for example, different engineering roles (identified by its 3 digit SOC code). The additional flexibility for CSEP holders is due to the fact that their roles are identified on the Critical Skills Occupations List indicating a high demand for these skills in the labour market.

The permit must be in force and will remain in force for at least two months when making the application. The duration of the permit will remain unaffected.

The provision provides the permit holder with greater freedom of movement to employment with more attractive terms and conditions. The Minister is provided with refusal reasons for consideration where prescribed conditions are not met.

The following conditions apply to the change of employer process:

the maximum number of applications for change of employer that may be granted to a permit holder has been set at three
the employee is required to commence employment with the new employer within one month of the new permit being issued. It is important to note that the new employment cannot be commenced until the employment permit has been reissued

The following documents should be submitted with your application:

a copy of the new Contract of Employment (signed by both the employer and employee)
a statement issued by the Revenue Commissioners showing the monthly statutory returns made by the employer dated within the 3-month period preceding the application
If the new employer is operating a restaurant business the following additional information is required:

(i) A letter from the relevant Local Health Authority confirming that the Employer has been granted permission to operate a restaurant at the premises

(ii) Statement from the Employer that the employee will be employed in an establishment other than a fast-foot outlet

(iii) Copies of utility bills for the establishment’s premises – dated within a 2-month period prior to the application

Please note you must not commence with your new employer until you have received your updated employment permit.

Is a new LMNT required?

Unlike applications for new permits, there is no requirement to conduct a labour market needs test before the permit holder applies to change their employer. The employment permit holder will be allowed to change employer provided that they are transferring to an occupation similar to the occupation for which they have been permitted to enter the State. This would be the occupation which has already been tested in the domestic and EEA labour market but failed to secure suitable candidates to fill the vacancy through the labour market needs test or is in critical short supply.

Change of employer request form

The change of employer request form, which must be signed by the existing permit holder (employee) and the proposed new employer can be found here: Application to change employer on existing employment permit

Completed and signed applications, together with a new signed contract of employment should be submitted to the dedicated email address: eptransfer@enterprise.gov.ie

Moving employment (requiring a new application)

If the employment you wish to move to is outside the scope of the ‘change of employer’ process (below) then a new employment permit application will need to be submitted.

For a General Employment Permit, the new role must be the same as the role for which the original permit was issued. For a Critical Skill Employment Permit, the new role must be within the same category of employment (that is, the 3-digit Standard Occupational Classification Code) for which the employment permit was first granted.

All employment permits are valid only for the employer and the employment stated on the permit. If you are currently working in Ireland on your first employment permit in the State you are expected to continue in that employment for a period of nine months from the commencement of the employment.

This provision attempts to strike a reasonable balance between, on the one hand, the employer’s expectations that you will remain in his or her employment for a reasonable period of time given the costs involved in recruitment and, on the other hand, not unduly binding you to the employer.

In exceptional circumstances, such as redundancy, or where circumstances arise that fundamentally change the employment relationship (for example, your employer plans to change the location of the business to a site a significant distance from its current location), you may be granted an employment permit for an alternative, eligible job within the first nine months.