Sick Pay Leave Bill

Many employees call a solicitor when there is an issue regarding a sick pay dispute between an employee and an employer, and the solicitor will firstly ask the employee, what is the provision, if any, in their employment contract regarding Sick Pay.

We ie in Ireland have no Statutory Sick Pay entitlement. Many European countries have legislation regarding sick pay, but in Ireland, we do not.

In September 2020 the Labour Party proposed a Sick Leave and Parental Leave Covid-10 Bill which proposes putting an Entitlement to Sick Leave ie with pay on a statutory footing. The Bill proposes sick leave of up to 30 days in any 12 months in respect of such a leave entitlement.

The above Bill proposes that employee complaints in relation to a sick leave entitlement could be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission.

There are though, many questions which will first need to be addressed, in our opinion, before such a bill becomes law, such as, what happens to Social Welfare Rights and illness protection policy if an employer is paying the wage during the leave period, and what if an employee is not using the leave-in the way it was designed for. What can an employer do then, for example.

Kieran Cleary and Roger Cleary Employment Law Solicitors can help with questions you may have regarding employment law matters and our numbers are (01) 546 1121 or  (052) 612 1999 or our email address is info@clearysolicitors.com

Disclaimer 

Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad outline of the topic discussed. It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.

Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.

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