All workers set to be paid by employers for sick days

Cabinet has approved a bill allowing for statutory sick pay for workers.

It will mean all workers will be entitled to a maximum of ten sick days a year by 2026.

The Government estimates around half of workers are currently entitled to sick pay, something Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says is an inequality highlighted by the Covid pandemic.

That number falls even further when you take the private sector alone.

Varadkar has brought forward a bill making sick pay mandatory for all employees who have been with a company for at least 13 weeks.

Once the bill is passed the entitlement will be three days this year, rising to 5 in 2024, 7 in 2025 and 10 in 2026.

It will be paid at a rate of 70% of an employee's wage to a max of 110 euro a day.