Statutory Sick Pay in Ireland FAQ’s
Amanda Souza
On the 20th of July 2022, the Sick Leave Act 2022 became law in Ireland and it came into force from the 1st of January 2023.
What is Statutory Sick Pay?
Statutory sick pay is money paid by employers to employees who are unable to work due to sickness. Under the new legislation employers are obliged to provide a minimum number of paid sick days per year from 2023. The plan for paid sick leave is as follows:
- Starting with 3 paid sick days in 2023 per calendar
- 5 paid sick days in 2024 per calendar
- 7 paid sick days in 2025 per calendar
- 10 paid sick days in 2026 per calendar
The eventual working weeks of sick pay per year will be in addition to other leave entitlements such as maternity and parental leave, annual leave and public holidays.
How is Statutory Sick Pay calculated?
- The rate of payment for statutory sick leave is 70% of normal wages, up to a maximum €110 per day for 3 days.
What happens if I’m sick for more than 3 days?
- If you have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions, you should apply for Illness Benefit. However, if you don’t qualify for Illness Benefit you may get a Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
Who is entitled to paid sick leave under this new scheme?
- Full-time and Part-time employees are entitled to sick paid leave
- Employees must be working for their employer for at least 13 weeks
- Employees must be medically certified as unfit for work by a GP
How will it affect employers?
If an employer already provides a sick leave contract that is favourable or more favourable than the statutory provision, then the employer won’t have additional obligations under the Act. On the other hand, if an employer provides a sick leave contract that is less favourable than the new statutory provision, then the employer must comply with the statutory sick pay rules. As an employer, you must keep proper records for each employee.
The records must be kept for 4 years and include information of each employee who applied for sick leave. Information that must be included in the records are as follows:
- The employee’s length of employment
- The dates of statutory sick leave of each employee
- The rate of statutory sick leave payment in relation to each employee.
Failure to comply with accurate employee records, may be convicted and subject to a fine of up to €2,500.
While statutory sick pay will be beneficial for your employees, employers may need to make changes to their payroll processes in order to adapt to this new legislation.
Get In Touch:
If you are interested in finding out how Gallagher Keane can help your business to comply with the Statutory Sick Pay rules, please book a no obligation call.
