Statutory Sick Pay (Sick Leave Act 2022)
The legal entitlement of employees in Ireland to a number of employer-paid sick days per year at 70% of normal pay, subject to a daily cap.
Ireland had no statutory sick pay before 2023, so many hospitality handbooks are silently out of date. Employees qualify after 13 weeks' service and must provide a medical cert from day one of absence. The number of covered days has been designed to increase in phases, so verify the current entitlement each year. Failing to pay SSP is recoverable at the WRC as an unlawful deduction from wages.
Frequently Asked Questions
The employee can bring a complaint to the WRC, where unpaid SSP is treated like any other unlawful deduction from wages — with compensation awards on top of the arrears. Given the modest daily amounts involved, refusing SSP is one of the worst risk-to-saving ratios in employment law.
Yes — statutory sick pay requires a medical certificate from day one of the absence, and the employee must have at least 13 weeks' continuous service. Your policy can be more generous (many employers don't demand certs for single days of company sick pay), but the statutory entitlement is cert-dependent.
The Sick Leave Act 2022 introduced employer-paid statutory sick leave, paid at 70% of normal earnings up to a daily cap, with the number of covered days designed to increase in phases. Check the current entitlement for this year — handbooks written even recently may quote an out-of-date figure.