Sick leave by country / Ireland
Sick leave and sick pay in Ireland
Who pays when someone is ill, how much, for how long, and what the certificate rules are — in plain English, whether you run a team in Ireland or work on one.
Ireland's Sick Leave Act 2022 gives employees with at least 13 weeks' service five days of employer-paid statutory sick leave a year, at 70% of normal pay capped at €110 a day, provided they have a medical certificate. The planned increases to seven and then ten days were halted in 2025, so five days remains the entitlement in 2026. After that, employees claim Illness Benefit from the state.
Disclosure: some software links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through one, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. We only recommend tools we have set up and used, and commission never affects placement or verdicts. Not legal advice: this page summarises publicly available state agency guidance for general information. Verify with the linked agency or an employment attorney before acting on it.
How it works
Statutory sick pay in Ireland is new: it started at three days in 2023 and rose to five in 2024. The Act envisaged seven days in 2025 and ten in 2026, but in April 2025 the Government decided against the increase, citing cost pressures on employers, so the entitlement stays at five days per calendar year. Pay is 70% of the employee's normal daily pay up to €110 a day. The right applies from the first day of sickness — there are no waiting days — but only with a certificate from a registered medical practitioner. Employers with a more favourable scheme are exempt if the scheme is at least as good on the whole. Once statutory sick pay is exhausted, employees with enough PRSI contributions claim Illness Benefit, which is paid by the Department of Social Protection, not the employer.
Worth knowing: The €110 cap means anyone earning over about €157 a day receives less than 70% of their pay; the cap can be changed by ministerial order, so check the current figure.
If you run a team in Ireland
Check service (13 weeks), require a certificate, pay 70% up to the cap through payroll, and keep records of statutory sick leave for four years — the Workplace Relations Commission can inspect them. You may not treat a statutory sick day as annual leave or require the employee to make it up. If your own sick pay scheme is more favourable overall, it replaces the statutory scheme.
If you work in Ireland
You need a medical certificate from the first day to be paid. Five days is the annual limit for statutory pay; after that, apply to the Department of Social Protection for Illness Benefit if you have the contributions. Your contract may offer more — many do.
Sickness and annual leave
If you are sick during annual leave and have a certificate, the days are treated as sick leave and your annual leave is preserved. Annual leave accrues during certified sick leave and can be carried over for up to 15 months if it could not be taken.
The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Ireland annual leave page — 20 working days minimum.
Keeping the record straight
Sick pay rules turn on dates: the day the illness started, the day the certificate was due, the day the employer's obligation ends and the benefit takes over. In Ireland those dates decide who pays and how much, and they have to be provable months later — to a payroll auditor, an insurer, or the employee. A shared spreadsheet rarely survives that; a tracker like Leavo records each absence with its dates and approvals alongside annual leave, so the record exists before anyone asks for it. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.
Sick leave in Ireland: common questions
Does statutory sick pay reset each year?
Yes — five days per calendar year, not a rolling period.
Can an employer accept a certificate from a pharmacist or a phone consultation?
The Act requires certification by a registered medical practitioner. Employers may accept less for their own schemes, but statutory sick pay needs a doctor's certificate.
Does it apply to part-time and agency workers?
Yes, pro-rata to their working pattern, once they have 13 weeks of continuous service with the employer.
What happens if I fall ill during my annual leave in Ireland?
If you are sick during annual leave and have a certificate, the days are treated as sick leave and your annual leave is preserved. Annual leave accrues during certified sick leave and can be carried over for up to 15 months if it could not be taken.
Source
Primary source: Sick Leave Act 2022. Rates and caps change — often every January or April — and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme. Confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.