Statutory sick pay in Ireland 2026: five days at 70% and what comes after

Until 2023 Ireland had no statutory sick pay. Whether you were paid when ill depended entirely on your contract, and for many people in retail, hospitality and care work the answer was no. The Sick Leave Act 2022 changed that, and this guide explains what it gives you in 2026: the five days, the 70%, the €110 cap, the 13 weeks and the certificate, then the paused increase, how employer schemes interact with it, what part-time workers get, Illness Benefit after it runs out, and the WRC route if it is not paid.

The entitlement in 2026

The five days do not have to be consecutive. They are five days of absence in the calendar year on which you would otherwise have worked, and they reset on 1 January. Days are counted, not hours: a day off sick is one day whether your shift was four hours or twelve.

How the 70% and the cap work

Statutory sick pay is 70% of the pay you would have earned on the day, up to €110. Three examples:

The cap bites at a daily pay of about €157, which is roughly €40,000 a year on a five-day week. Above that, every day is paid at €110. The sick pay calculator applies the percentage and the cap to your own figures.

Normal daily pay for hourly staff is your usual hours for that day at your usual rate, including regular premiums. For variable hours it is averaged over a period before the absence.

The 13 weeks

You qualify once you have 13 weeks' continuous service with the employer. The weeks do not have to be full-time. Until you reach 13 weeks you have no statutory entitlement, although a contractual scheme may cover you earlier.

The certificate

The Act requires a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner, from the first day of absence, stating that you are unable to work. Three things people ask about it:

• "Sick cert how many days": for statutory sick pay the answer is from day one. Many employer schemes let you self-certify the first day or two, but that is a contractual arrangement and does not change the statutory rule.
• "Sick note online" and "medical cert online": a certificate issued after an online or telephone consultation is acceptable if the person issuing it is a registered medical practitioner. What matters is the registration, not the format. A certificate from someone who is not registered, or a form you fill in yourself, is not enough for the statutory payment.
• Cost: the Act does not require the employer to pay for the certificate.

If you cannot see a doctor on the first day, get the certificate as soon as you can and ask it to cover the absence from its start; a certificate that states the date the illness began meets the Act.

The paused increase

The Act was written to step up: 3 days in 2023, 5 in 2024, 7 in 2025 and 10 in 2026. The first two steps happened. In 2025 the Government paused the rise to 7 days, and the rise to 10 days has not happened either. At 13 October 2026 the entitlement is still 5 days.

The Minister can raise the number of days by order after consulting on the economic position, so the figure can change without a new Act. Searches for "sick pay Ireland 2027" have no answer yet: no order had been made. The changes tracker records any order the day it is made, and the figures in this guide and in the calculator are updated when it is.

Employer sick pay schemes

Many employers have their own scheme, and the Act allows a scheme to replace the statutory one, but only if it is at least as favourable overall. The comparison is made across the whole scheme, looking at factors such as the service needed to qualify, the number of days paid, the period over which they are paid, the amount paid and any reference period. A scheme that pays full pay for 10 days after six months' service is more favourable overall even though its qualifying period is longer; a scheme that pays 50% for 3 days is not, and the statutory entitlement applies underneath it.

Where the employer scheme is better, you get the scheme. Where it is worse, you get the statutory minimum for the first five days and the scheme for whatever else it offers. The written statement of terms must cover sick pay and sick leave terms within a month of starting; if yours does not say what the scheme is, the statutory rules apply and the gap in the statement is itself something to raise.

Public service schemes are different again. HSE staff, civil servants and teachers have sector schemes that are well above the statutory floor; those are covered in the sector guides.

Part-time, fixed-term and agency workers

The Act applies to every employee with 13 weeks' service. Part-time workers get the same five days, each paid at 70% of what that day would have paid, capped at €110. The days are not reduced pro rata, because the daily amount already reflects the hours. Fixed-term and agency workers are covered in the same way; for agency workers the agency is the employer and pays the statutory sick pay.

Annual leave and public holidays while you are sick

Annual leave accrues during certified sick leave as if you were at work, and leave you could not take because of illness can be carried over for 15 months; the annual leave guide explains the rule. A public holiday that falls during a short illness is still a public holiday and is paid as one rather than as a sick day; the public holidays guide covers the limits for longer absences.

After the five days: Illness Benefit

Once statutory sick pay is used up, or if you have not yet reached 13 weeks' service, the next source of income is Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection. In 2026 the personal rate is €254 a week, a figure this site marks as to be verified against the Department's current rate before you rely on it. There are 3 waiting days from the start of the illness, for which nothing is paid, and you must meet PRSI contribution conditions. You can claim statutory sick pay and Illness Benefit for different days of the same illness but not for the same day. The Illness Benefit guide covers the application, the waiting days and how it runs alongside employer pay.

Being on sick leave does not stop an employer from ending the employment, but a dismissal for incapacity has to be fair in substance and procedure, and an illness that is a disability brings the reasonable accommodation duty with it. The sickness dismissal guide deals with that.

If your employer does not pay it

The Act is enforced through the WRC. If you had 13 weeks' service, a certificate from day one and days left in the year, and the employer did not pay, a complaint under the Sick Leave Act 2022 goes to the WRC within 6 months of the day the payment was due, extendable to 12 months for reasonable cause. The WRC can order the payment and award compensation; reported figures are on the awards page. There is no fee and no costs either way. Penalising you for taking statutory sick leave, or for making a complaint, is a separate breach of the Act.

Before the complaint, write to the employer: give the dates, confirm the certificate was provided, and ask for the statutory amount to be paid in the next pay run. A deduction of sick pay that was due can also be framed under the Payment of Wages Act 1991. The WRC deadline checker gives the date.

Where this leaves you

In 2026 you are entitled to 5 days' statutory sick pay a year at 70% of your normal pay, capped at €110 a day, once you have 13 weeks' service, with a certificate from a registered practitioner from day one. The planned rise to 7 and 10 days is paused, your employer's scheme can only replace the statutory one if it is at least as good overall, and Illness Benefit follows after the five days subject to PRSI conditions. Put your daily pay and the days you were off into the sick pay calculator to see the figure your employer should have paid and what you may be able to claim after it.