Sick pay in Ireland: what employers must provide
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Employers in Ireland must provide statutory sick pay under the Sick Leave Act 2022. Since 2024, employees are entitled to five days of company sick pay per year, paid at 70% of normal daily wages, up to a daily cap. Here is what that means in practice.
Who qualifies
An employee must have completed 13 continuous weeks of service with the employer before they can access statutory sick pay. Part-time and fixed-term employees qualify on the same basis as full-time staff, provided they meet that service threshold.
To claim sick pay, the employee must provide a medical certificate from a GP or other registered medical practitioner. The certificate should cover each day of absence claimed. Without it, the employer has no statutory obligation to pay.
How much you must pay
Statutory sick pay is set at 70% of the employee's normal daily wage. There is a daily earnings cap — currently €110 per day — which means the maximum statutory payment is €77 per day (70% of €110).
"Normal daily wage" is calculated from gross basic pay. It does not include bonuses, commission, overtime or allowances unless those form a fixed, regular part of the contract.
If your employment contract already provides sick pay that is equal to or better than the statutory minimum — higher rate, more days, or both — you are compliant. You do not need to layer statutory sick pay on top of a more generous contractual scheme.
How statutory sick pay interacts with illness benefit
Once an employee has exhausted their statutory sick pay entitlement, they may be able to claim Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection, provided they have sufficient PRSI contributions. Illness Benefit is not paid for the first three days of illness (known as waiting days).
This sequencing matters for employees and employers alike. Statutory sick pay kicks in first, for the days the employer must cover. Illness Benefit only becomes relevant if the absence continues beyond the employer's obligation — or from day one of illness if the employee has no statutory entitlement yet (for example, within their first 13 weeks).
Employers are not responsible for topping up Illness Benefit, unless a contractual scheme requires it.
What it costs the employer
Sick pay is processed through payroll in the normal way. The gross sick pay amount is subject to income tax, USC and PRSI in the same manner as regular wages.
On the employer side, that means Class A PRSI at 11.15% applies to sick pay payments, just as it does to ordinary salary. There is no rebate or relief mechanism for employers covering statutory sick pay costs — it is simply an operating cost of employing people in Ireland.
For a small employer, five days of sick pay per employee per year is manageable, but it is worth modelling the liability across your headcount so there are no surprises in cash flow.
Record-keeping and practical administration
Keep a record of each statutory sick pay claim: the dates of absence, the medical certificate received and the amount paid. Revenue may examine these records as part of a payroll audit, and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) can investigate complaints from employees who believe they were not paid correctly.
A few practical points worth having in a written policy:
- State clearly how employees should notify you of absence — ideally on the first day, before a set time.
- Specify when medical certificates are required (from day one for statutory sick pay purposes).
- Clarify how sick pay interacts with any contractual scheme you operate.
- Make clear that fraudulent claims are a disciplinary matter.
You are not legally required to have a written sick leave policy, but having one reduces disputes and makes line manager decisions consistent. If you have an employee handbook, this is the natural place for it.
Where this fits in the broader leave picture
Statutory sick pay sits alongside other statutory leave entitlements — annual leave (4 working weeks per year), maternity leave, paternity leave, parent's leave and carer's leave — as part of Ireland's minimum employment floor. None of these entitlements can be contracted out of; an employer can always provide more, never less.
One area to watch in the coming years is pension auto-enrolment under My Future Fund, being introduced from 2026. Like sick pay, it will create an additional cost per employee that needs to be factored into payroll planning from the outset.
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