Civil and public service: sick leave, probation, pay and discipline

Civil servants work for Government departments and offices; public servants, more widely, work for local authorities, the HSE, the education sector, An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the non-commercial State bodies. The employment Acts apply to almost all of them, with some carve-outs (the Unfair Dismissals Acts do not apply to established civil servants in the same way, who have their own dismissal procedures under the Civil Service Regulation Acts). On top of the Acts sits a layer of circulars from the Department of Public Expenditure that is, on sick leave, annual leave and pay, more generous than the statutory floor. This guide explains the civil service rules and points to where the wider public service follows them.

The sick leave scheme: Circular 05/2018

The public service sick leave scheme was introduced in 2014 under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Act 2013 and the regulations made under it. For the civil service it is consolidated in Circular 05/2018, Arrangements for Paid Sick Leave. The same scheme applies across the public service through each sector's own circulars, so the limits on the HSE page and the teachers and SNAs page are the same ones.

The four-year "look back" is counted from the first day of the current absence. Every day of paid sick leave in the previous four years, in any public service body, counts against the limits. A new absence that starts when you have already used your full-pay days goes straight to half pay, and one that starts when you have used 183 days is unpaid unless temporary rehabilitation remuneration applies.

Self-certified sick leave is limited to 7 days in a rolling 24-month period. Anything beyond that, or any absence longer than the self-certified maximum, needs a medical certificate.

The critical illness protocol applies where the chief medical officer or the occupational health service certifies that your illness meets the protocol's criteria. The decision is taken by management on that advice and can be reviewed on request. It doubles the full-pay and half-pay limits and extends the period over which TRR can be paid.

Temporary rehabilitation remuneration (TRR) is paid after paid sick leave is exhausted where the occupational health service advises that there is a reasonable prospect of your returning to work. It is calculated by reference to the pension you would receive on ill-health retirement, not your salary, and is paid for up to 18 months in an ordinary case and longer under the critical illness protocol, subject to continuing medical review.

Illness Benefit. You are required to claim Illness Benefit where you qualify, and the Department recovers it against your sick pay. In 2026 the rate is €254 a week with three waiting days, subject to PRSI conditions. Civil servants recruited before 1995 pay a modified PRSI rate and do not qualify for Illness Benefit; those recruited since pay full-rate PRSI and do.

The scheme replaces the Sick Leave Act 2022 because it is, as a whole, more favourable than 5 days at 70% of pay capped at €110. Where your paid leave has run out and you are on unpaid leave or TRR, the question of whether the statutory 5 days are still owed in that leave year is one to raise with HR; the scheme circulars address it.

Pregnancy-related illness is counted separately and does not reduce your ordinary limits in the same way; the circular sets out the arrangements. Sick leave and annual leave: annual leave continues to accrue during sick leave, and leave you could not take because you were ill can be carried forward within the limits the circular and the 1997 Act set.

The sick pay calculator shows the statutory floor, so you can see how far above it the scheme sits.

Annual leave and public holidays

Civil service annual leave is set by grade and service in the Department's circulars and ranges above the statutory four weeks. The figure for your grade is in the circular that applies to it and in your contract; this site does not reproduce the bands because they vary by grade and by date of entry. The statutory rules still apply underneath: leave accrues on sick and maternity leave, part-time staff get leave pro rata, and untaken leave is paid when you leave. The ten public holidays in 2026 are 1 January, 2 February, 17 March, 6 April, 4 May, 1 June, 3 August, 26 October, 25 December and 26 December. Most civil service offices close on them; staff who must work them are compensated under the circular for their grade. The annual leave calculator gives the statutory entitlement and the public holidays you qualify for.

Probation

Probation in the civil service is normally one year. The Civil Service Regulation Acts and the probation circular give it a statutory basis that the 2022 Regulations' six-month cap for the private sector does not override. During probation you should have formal reviews, usually at three, six and nine months or similar intervals, with a written record, and any concern about performance, conduct or attendance should be raised with you in time for you to address it. Probation can be extended where the reviews have been incomplete or where you have been absent, and a decision not to confirm you must follow the procedure: notice of the concern, a chance to respond, and a decision by the appropriate authority. Sick leave during probation counts under the scheme above but may lead to an extension of the probationary period.

If you are not confirmed, the civil service dismissal procedures apply rather than the Unfair Dismissals Acts in most cases, but a dismissal that is actually for a discriminatory reason, for pregnancy or for a protected disclosure goes to the WRC under those Acts, with no minimum service. The probation guide covers the general law.

Pay and the Public Service Agreement

Civil service pay scales are set by Department circular and moved by the national agreements. The Public Service Agreement 2024 to 2026 set a sequence of general increases across its term, applied by circular to each grade's scale, with the final increases falling in 2026. Increments are paid annually subject to satisfactory performance under the Performance Management and Development System. Any successor agreement is tracked on /changes as it is circulated.

Underpayment of a scale rate or a missed increment is first a payroll query, then the grievance procedure, and if unresolved a Payment of Wages Act complaint to the WRC within six months of the pay date. Allowances (for shift, unsocial hours, or a role) are in the circulars too and are enforceable in the same way.

The Civil Service Disciplinary Code and grievance procedure

Discipline in the civil service is governed by the Civil Service Disciplinary Code (Circular 19/2016), which applies the WRC Code of Practice (S.I. No. 146/2000) and adds its own stages: an informal stage, a formal process with an investigation and a disciplinary meeting, a right to be accompanied by a union representative or colleague, a range of sanctions from a written warning to dismissal, and an appeal, including to the Civil Service Disciplinary Code Appeals Board for the most serious sanctions. Suspension on full pay pending investigation is possible and should be short and reviewed.

The Civil Service Grievance Procedure runs from your line manager up through the department and, for matters still unresolved, to the WRC's industrial relations service. The Dignity at Work policy handles bullying and harassment and applies the 2021 bullying Code. The letter builder drafts a formal grievance.

Two practical points. Keep everything in writing, with dates. Involve your union from the first formal meeting: representation is part of the procedure and the representative will have seen the process before.

Retirement ages

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Act 2025, commenced 29 June 2026, lets an employee with a contractual retirement age below 66 notify the employer, between 12 and 3 months before that age, that they wish to work to 66. It does not apply where a statute sets the retirement age, which is the position for most civil and public servants. Your retirement age depends on when you joined. Broadly, pre-2004 entrants have a compulsory retirement age that was raised to 70 by the Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Act 2018; entrants between 2004 and 2012 have no compulsory retirement age in most grades; and Single Public Service Pension Scheme members (from 2013) have a minimum pension age linked to the State pension age and a compulsory retirement age of 70. Uniformed grades have their own, earlier ages. The State pension age is 66. The retirement guide covers the private-sector position and the age discrimination test.

Fixed-term and temporary clerical staff

Temporary clerical officers and other fixed-term civil servants are covered by the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003: equal treatment with comparable permanent staff, and a contract of indefinite duration after four years of successive fixed-term contracts unless the department has objective grounds for a further fixed term. Non-renewal of a fixed-term contract can be a dismissal unless the contract excluded the Unfair Dismissals Acts in writing for that expiry.

Unions

Fórsa represents the general civil service grades (clerical, executive and administrative) and much of the wider public service; the AHCPS represents higher civil and public servants; the PSEU grades merged into Fórsa. SIPTU represents service grades in some bodies. The Civil Service unions negotiate through the General Council and sit on the Public Service Committee of ICTU. See which union covers your grade.

Where this leaves you

The civil service sick leave scheme, annual leave and pay scales all sit above the statutory floor, and in a dispute the figure that matters is the one in the circular for your grade. For sick leave, the limits are 92 days full pay and 91 half in a rolling four years, 183 and 182 under the critical illness protocol, with TRR after that. The annual leave calculator gives you the statutory entitlement by the three legal methods, your accrual to date and the public holidays you qualify for, so you can see what the circular adds. For the HSE's version of the same scheme, see HSE staff; for the education sector, teachers and SNAs.