Our rate of sick leave suggests we have no right to lecture Greeks

Cormac Williams of the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (Letters, Irish Examiner, July 8) mentions the sick leave ‘entitlement’ of front line workers being cut. Interesting he uses the word ‘entitlement’.

In the real world there is a limit to how long you can just call in sick before you have to produce a GP note and I don’t see why the public sector should be any different — frontline or backroom.

He also mentions staff having to return to work before they are fully recovered. This is illegal if they have a GP certificate. Staff have a legal right to be paid when they are signed off sick and if they pass the maximum amount of days, then their employer’s insurance kicks in.