Employees nationwide will be entitled to 10 sick days a year from 2025 under plans signed off by Cabinet this morning.
This will phase in from next year and will be capped at 70% of someone's wages or up to €110 a day.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said to help businesses manage the new payments the entitlement to sick days will be phased in over a number of years.
The phased plan will begin in 2022 with 3 days leave permitted, the year after that will increase to 5 days, 7 days the year after that - and finally 10 days in year 4, 2025.
“The only requirement will be that you have a sick note from a doctor,” said the Tánaiste.
Minister Varadkar says he expects many employers will do better than the legislation announced today:
“Any employer can offer more than that [70% of someone's wages or up to €110 a day.] and many will, this is a statutory floor, it’s a minimum where no minimum currently exists so it’s a major step forward in that regard.”
Self-employed people won't be covered by the new minimum standard sick pay bill, however.
Self-employed people will still be responsible for managing their own leave with no subsidy from the state.
This change in legislation today followed other measures introduced to improve the rights of workers in the country including parental leave benefit, enhanced maternity benefit, treatment benefit, and the extension of social insurance benefits to the self-employed.
I want better terms & conditions for all employees to be a legacy of the pandemic. Details on statutory sick pay announced today👇 pic.twitter.com/5rfyrr1nVT — Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) June 9, 2021
