Budget: No sick benefit for first six days

The Government will announce in today’s budget that eligibility for illness benefit will be increased from three days to six days, placing further pressure on companies that are set to face a raft of other employment cost rises.

At present, an employee has to be out of work for three days before an application can be made for illness benefit. This will now be changed to six days, and could affect up to 1.8m workers.

While there is no legal obligation for employers to cover sick pay, they usually cover the first three days. This cut will put pressure on firms to cover the first six days of illness. However, there will be will be no changes to sick pay rates paid out by the Department of Social Protection.