Workplace Wellbeing: Too ill to work? New law protects your income

Since January 1, workers are entitled to get paid leave for up to three sick days per year, rising to 10 days by 2026. It’s a welcome change but does the new legislation go far enough?

'The Sick Leave Act will be a positive legacy of the pandemic'

Úna Uí Shúilleabháin is a primary school teacher in West Kerry. The 34-year-old mother of two developed meningitis in September last year and had to take three weeks off work.

“Whenever I’m sick, I ring my principal as soon as I realise I’ll have to take time off,” she says. “I feel bad, especially if I wake up in the morning and am unable to give them much notice when it comes to finding a substitute teacher. But they are always understanding, and I know that I’ll be paid in full, so there’s no need for me to worry about the financial consequences of being ill.”

This has long been the case for those working in the public sector, but it’s only recently become the norm in the private sector. Up until January 1, 2023, Ireland was one of only five EU countries where workers had no legal right to sick pay if they were too ill or injured to work.

“Irish employment law did not require employers to pay their staff when absent due to illness or injury,” says Dr Laura Bambrick, the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s head of social policy and employment affairs who led the union’s campaign to make sick leave mandatory.

“Sick pay in Ireland was treated as a perk of the job that employers could decide whether or not to include in a contract of employment. As a result, half the workforce, more than one million employees, were not covered for paid sick leave in their terms and conditions.”

According to Caroline Reidy, managing director of the HR Suite, the pandemic drew public attention to this problem. “People working in minimum wage jobs could not afford to be unwell because there was no sick pay. So they continued going to work and spreading the virus.”

Trades unions had long pointed out that this was a health and safety concern,” says Bambrick. “Sick workers are a danger to themselves and others they come into contact with — they increase the spread of infection and the risk of workplace accidents. But without sick pay, those workers are forced out of financial necessity to continue going to work while unwell. Their rent still needs to be paid whether they are sick or not. It took a global pandemic and the outbreak of Covid-19 clusters in meat processing plants among low-wage workers to finally put our failed approach to sick pay under the spotlight.”

Úna Uí Shúilleabháin is a primary school teacher in West Kerry

Reassurance

A September 2020 poll by Ireland Thinks found that 87% supported workers having a guaranteed right to sick pay from their employer.

The Government responded by passing the Sick Leave Act 2022, which has just become law. Workers are now entitled to paid sick leave of up to three days per year, rising to five days in 2024, seven in 2025 and 10 by 2026.

All employees who have worked for their employer for at least 13 weeks have a right to this sick pay and part-time employees are also covered. To avail of it, employees must obtain a medical certificate from their GP, and they will then be paid by their employer at a rate of 70% of their wage, up to a daily maximum of €110. This can be revised by ministerial order in line with inflation and changing incomes.

Reidy welcomes the new legislation. “I think it will reassure people that they can take sick leave if they are unwell and still get paid,” she says.

She believes the payment will not place too much of a financial burden on employers. “The fact that there is a requirement to provide a GP certificate means that sick pay will only be given to genuinely sick employees,” she says. “This should ensure that the scheme will not be abused. That said, it would be prudent for employers, especially those with small businesses, to start financial planning now to ensure they are ready. They should also measure the impact of sick leave on their business over the coming year.”

Bambrick also reassures employers. “Sick pay has been a standard worker’s right for decades in almost every EU country, so we know it works. An impact assessment of sick pay conducted by the Government shows it will add a maximum of 0.8% to payroll costs here in 2023 and 2.7% from 2026 when it’s fully rolled out. But this cost is only if every employee takes all of their paid sick leave, which will never happen. Besides, sick pay and the cost of hiring extra staff to cover sick leave is deductible for corporation tax purposes.”

If an employer can demonstrate an inability to pay, it can be exempt from paying sick leave for up to a year. “In such cases, employees’ sick pay will be paid from the Social Insurance Fund so that the worker won’t be out of pocket,” says Bambrick.

Trailing behind EU

Greg Ennis, the manufacturing division organiser for SIPTU, has a more lukewarm response to the legislation. “It’s a step in the right direction but it doesn’t go far enough,” he says.

“What if we have another pandemic? Ten days off work may not necessarily be enough. The rate of payment and the requirement for a certificate from a GP are disappointing too. A GP visit can cost up to €70, and considering the payment is €110, the maths simply don’t add up.

“People who are on low pay will still choose to go to work because it’s a choice between putting food on the table or not.”

What’s on offer in Ireland is far less than what’s available in most European countries. In Germany, employees are entitled to six weeks of sick leave at 100% of pay, and they get up to two years in the Netherlands at 70% of their salary.

Bambrick acknowledges that we have a way to go. “There will be some who criticise 10 days as not enough and point to other EU member states with much lengthier cover,” she says. “This is true but in those countries, sick pay has been around for decades, almost a century in some of them. The number of paid sick days there didn’t start off being six weeks or six months — it improved over time. And that will happen here too.”

For now though, all Irish employees are entitled to three days’ sick leave per year. If your illness lasts longer than that entitlement, you can claim an illness benefit from the Department of Social Protection subject to your PRSI contributions.

“This gives legal recognition to employers’ duty to their staff during periods of illness and ensures workers are well at work,” says Bambrick.

“I feel guilty when I ring in sick as I worry about my class and know it puts pressure on my principal to find a replacement,” says Uí Shúilleabháin. “But because I know I’ll be paid — never feel pressure to go to work when I’m ill.”

Reidy believes the new legislation will encourage more employees to stay home from work to rest and recover when they’re sick, as public sector workers like Uí Shúilleabháin have long been able to do.

“I think the Sick Leave Act will be a positive legacy of the pandemic, one that we can build upon in furthering employees’ rights into the future,” she says.