It will now become mandatory for all employers to provide sick pay to employees under new laws signed off by the Cabinet last week. The Sick Leave Bill 2022 will introduce a statutory sick pay scheme for all employees phased in over four years.

But the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has warned that a qualification requirement of 13 weeks continuous employment means thousands of women and non-Irish nationals will not qualify for the paid leave.

The new legislation will initially give a minimum entitlement of three days paid sick leave a year. This will rise to five days in 2024, seven days in 2025, and ten days in 2026.

Sick pay will be paid by employers at a rate of 70% of pay, subject to a daily maximum threshold of €110.

Most Fórsa members already have much better arrangements negotiated by the union.

Ireland is currently one of few advanced economies in Europe without a mandatory sick leave entitlement. Under current arrangements, about half of all employees in the country get paid sick leave.

Introducing the scheme, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the pandemic exposed the precarious position of many people, especially in the private sector and in low-paid roles, when it comes to missing work due to illness. “No one should feel pressured to come to work when they are ill because they can’t afford not to,” he said.

Under the scheme, employees will have to present a medical certificate to avail of statutory sick pay, and the entitlement is subject to the employee having worked for their employer for a minimum of 13 weeks.

ICTU social policy officer Laura Bambrick raised union concerns about the requirement to present a medical certificate, which can service as a barrier to accessing the sick pay.

“Very few people who are at work today have a medical card or a GP card, and must pay €50 or more to see a GP. This will potentially act as a barrier,” she said.

Meanwhile, the last payment of the PUP was also paid at the end of last month when the emergency support came to an end almost two years after it was introduced. The remaining 45,000 recipients have since transferred over to the ordinary jobseeker’s benefit.

The PUP was one of three income supports introduced in March 2020 for workers who had their employment affected by Covid during the peak of the virus.