by Anne Lyne , Martin McKiernan April-09-2025 in Employment Law
On 8th April 2025, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, confirmed that an employee’s entitlement to statutory sick leave will remain at five days per calendar year.
The Sick Leave Act 2022 came into effect on 1 January 2023, granting sick leave rights to employees. This is paid at 70% of gross earnings, up to a daily cap of €110.
Employees originally received three days statutory sick leave under the legislation, which increased to five days in 2024.
This was set to increase again to 7 days in 2025 (and 10 in 2026).
Minister Burke has said that his decision to pause any increase is due to concerns raised from business owners and representative organisations who cite “the cumulative impact of such regulatory measures in light of rising labour, input and energy costs. Five days’ sick leave strikes the right balance”.
In order to be eligible for sick leave, an employee must have 13 weeks continuous service and must have their sickness certified (normally by a GP) from day one of any absence. Once this entitlement has been exhausted an employee should move onto illness benefit (if eligible), issued by the Department of Social Protection.
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About the Authors
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Anne Lyne
Anne is a partner and leads the Employment Law team at Hayes solicitors advising on the full range of employment related issues.
Anne understands that if an employment related issue arises that responsiveness and practical assistance are key for clients. Anne and the team are available for clients to ensure that matters are addressed promptly.
Martin McKiernan
Martin works within the Employment Law team and qualified in Northern Ireland in September 2020, after training with one of the region’s top commercial law firms.
Since qualification, Martin has gained experience in advising a wide variety of clients, across different sectors on a variety of contentious and non-contentious HR and employment law matters.