On 9 June, Ministers approved the drafting of Sick Leave Bill 2021. This new scheme will be applicable from 2022 and sees employers covering three days of sick leave per year. This will increase to five days in 2023 and then to seven days in 2024. By 2025 employers will have to pay for ten days of sick leave.
Sick pay will be paid at 70% of the employee’s wages. This will be subject to a daily threshold of €110. The threshold is based on the 2019 average income and will continue to be revised to reflect inflation and changing incomes.
To avail of the sick pay employees will have to provide a medical certificate and must have worked for their employer for at least six months. The government has said that this new scheme is intended to assist low-paid employees who have no entitlement to their company’s sick pay scheme.