Statutory Sick Pay – What you need to know
Statutory Sick Pay:
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD, announced details of a new statutory sick pay (SSP) scheme to be introduced in 2022.
On 30 March 2022, the Government approved the publication of the General Scheme of the Sick Leave Bill 2022 and it will be presented to the Houses of the Oireachtas for debate.
Currently, there is no legal right to sick pay in Ireland except where it is provided for in certain collective agreements, such as in the contract cleaning, construction, electrical contracting, mechanical engineering, and security industries.
Once enacted, the Sick Leave Bill 2022 will provide all employees with the right to limited paid sick leave, which will be phased in over a period of 4 years as follows:
- A maximum of 3 days SSP in 2022,
- A maximum of 5 days SSP in 2023,
- A maximum of 7 days SSP in 2024, and
- A maximum of 10 days SSP in 2025.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be payable at 70% of an employee’s pay subject to a maximum daily rate of €110 which may be changed by ministerial order in line with inflation. The maximum rate of €110 is based on 70% of the mean daily earnings taken from the CSO earnings data for Quarter 4 in 2019.
In order to avail of SSP, employees:
- Will have to provide a medical certificate, and
- Must have been employed by their employer for a minimum of 13 weeks.
Where an employee continues to be absent on sick leave for longer than the Statutory Sick Pay period, they will be entitled to claim Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) assuming they meet the qualifying conditions. As the announcement indicates that SSP “will effectively fill the gap in coverage caused by Illness Benefit waiting days”, it would appear that the number of Illness Benefit waiting days will increase in line with the increase in SSP, with sick pay costs being transferred from the DSP to employers.
While the General Scheme of the Bill has been approved by the Government, it could take several months before the Bill is enacted. It is also likely that Regulations will be required under the Act which could result in further delays.