Nearly one in five businesses are struggling to pay their workers when they take time off for illness. 

Since January 1st 2023, workers have had a legal right to paid statutory sick pay when ill; statutory sick pay is 70% of your normal wage up to €110 a day and workers are entitled to take up to three days of it annually. 

Following the passage of the Sick Leave Act 2022 through the Oireachtas, then-Tánaiste Leo Varadkar praised it as bringing Ireland into line with the rest of Europe. 

“No one should feel pressured to come to work when they are ill because they can’t afford not to,” he said. 

“Ireland is one of the few advanced countries in Europe not to have a mandatory sick pay scheme and although many, we think approximately half, of employers do provide sick pay, we need to make sure that security, that safety net, is there for all workers, regardless of their job.”

Sick woman next to a pharmacy. Anna Berkut / Alamy

However, a survey for Excel Recruitment has found there is widespread dissatisfaction with the new obligations the legislation places on employers; of the 100 SMEs surveyed, 42% believe the State should pay the bill for sick leave and 18% say they are unable to afford to pay it themselves. 

In addition 19% said they might have to cut wages to meet the new requirements, while 29% said they might have to hire less staff going forward. 

“The mandatory sick pay legislation hit employers at the same time as the biggest ever increase in the minimum wage and in a year when businesses and employers are grappling with the cost-of-living crisis,” Excel Recruitment Group CEO Barry Whelan said.

“Surely, the Government can see that this will not be financially feasible for businesses? 

“As we can see from our survey, it may well have a variety of unintended consequences such as wage cuts and reductions in on-the-job perks, as employers scramble to cover the cost of the new sick pay rules. 

“With three in ten employers saying the new rules could force them to take on less new hires, the new scheme could actually reduce opportunities for those seeking work.”

In 2024, workers will be entitled to five paid sick days and this will increase to 10 in the year 2026.

Main image: Sick lady touching sore throat. Image: Hanna Kuprevich / Alamy Stock Photo