Ireland: Parliament passes paid Sick Leave legislation

Approved by the Irish government in April (c.f. article No.12991), the Sick Leave Bill 2022 was officially passed on 13 July by the Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament). All that remains for this law to come into force and provide employees with legal sick leave is a final signature by the Irish President. To recap, by 2022, every employee with 13 weeks’ career length with their company will be entitled to three days’ statutory sick leave. These three days will be extended to 5 days in 2024, 7 days in 2025, and finally to 10 days in 2026. The compensation amount which will be funded by employers must amount to at least 70% of the salary, subject to a daily maximum of €110. These amounts have been calculated based on the 2019 average weekly wage (€786.33) and may vary depending on the economic situation. “From later this year, all workers will have the safety net of knowing they will not lose out on payment if they are unwell and can’t come into work,” said Leo Varadkar, the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Business and Employment. The Tánaiste has not yet given an official date for the introduction of sick leave. Until now, only about half of Irish employees have been receiving sick pay, either because they were working in the public sector or because their private sector company operated a sick leave scheme policy. However, it was possible to claim Illness Benefit.