If you currently have no Sick Pay Scheme, Contracts of Employment must be updated to take account of the new statutory sick leave scheme. However if you already pay sick leave the new scheme cannot disadvantage your employees . Are you aware of the new Statutory Sick Scheme? The aim of this new scheme is to bring Ireland in line with other European countries who have mandatory paid sick leave in place for employees.
This new scheme provides protection for staff members by providing the legal entitlement to be paid while off sick. The scheme will provide employees who have 13 week's continuous service with sick pay for up to three days of certified sick leave per year. The entitlement is as follows:
- Paid sick leave for up to 3 sick days per year in 2022 (from date of enactment), 5 days in 2023, 7 days in 2024 and 10 days in 2026
- A rate of payment for statutory sick leave of 70% of normal wages to be paid by employers (up to a maximum €110 per day).
. An employee must be certified by a GP as unfit to work to avail of this.
Update Staff Employment Contracts with Statutory Sick Pay Addendum
Due to this new employment law services will be required to update each existing employee's contract. If you already have a contract in place for your existing staff members you can simply add an Addendum to Contract that covers the Statutory Sick Pay.
Canavan Byrne offer this Addendum to Contract on the Early Years Shop for €10.00. This must be signed by each staff member and a copy kept on each staff file. If you would like to update your full employee contract you can also purchase our Employee Contract Template.
This contract is updated to include the recent changes to the Statutory Sick Pay Scheme. It is suitable for fixed-term, specified-purpose, hourly-paid, full-time, part-time or term-time contracts. If an employer does not follow the new rules of the Statutory Sick Scheme, a staff member can take a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). You can purchase both the Addendum to Contract and the Employee Contract Template below.
