Sick Note for Work in Ireland: What the Law Requires, What Your Employer Can Ask, and How to Get One
What the Sick Leave Act actually requires, what your employer can ask, how your five paid sick days work, and why Illness Benefit needs a different certificate.
You woke up genuinely unable to work. Somewhere between messaging your manager and going back to bed, a second worry arrives, and it is rarely about your symptoms. Will they want a note? Does it have to come from your own GP? And what happens to this week's pay?
The quick answer: to get paid statutory sick leave, Irish law asks you to give your employer a medical certificate signed by a registered doctor saying you are unable to work, and you should be certified from your first day off. It confirms you are unfit for work, and it does not have to name your diagnosis. You have five paid sick days a year, and if you are out longer, Illness Benefit needs a different certificate that has to come from your GP.
What the law actually asks for
Most pages on this subject paraphrase the rule. The actual text is short, and it answers the question people are really asking. Section 5(9) of the Sick Leave Act 2022 says:
An employee shall, in respect of a statutory sick leave day, provide his or her employer with a medical certificate in an official language of the State signed by a registered medical practitioner stating that the employee named in the certificate is unable to work.
Three things follow. The certificate has to be in English or Irish. It has to be signed by a registered medical practitioner, which the next subsection defines by reference to the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, so it means a doctor on the register. And it has to state that you are unable to work, which is the only clinical judgement the document carries.
Now the part that matters if you are reading this from bed. The section says nothing about being examined in person, and nothing about paper. A certificate from a registered doctor who assessed you by phone or video meets the wording as written.
Your employer's own policy is a separate question, and it can ask for more than the statutory minimum. Read your sick leave policy before you assume, and ask HR what they need rather than guessing.
Your five paid sick days, and why the cert should start on day one
The figures below are current for 2026.
- Five paid sick days per calendar year, the figure since 1 January 2024.
- Paid at 70% of your normal daily pay, capped at €110 a day. The cap starts to bite above roughly €157 a day of normal pay.
- You need 13 continuous weeks of service with that employer before you qualify.
- There are no waiting days. The right starts on the first day you are off, which is exactly why you should be certified from day one rather than day three.
- The days need not be consecutive, and unused days can be used later in the same year.
- They do not carry into next year. The clock resets on 1 January.
- Two jobs means two entitlements, once you have 13 weeks of service with each employer.
Part-time employees get the same five days as full-time employees, as do people on probation, apprentices, trainees and agency workers.
One detail explains much of the confusion online. The Act itself says "up to and including 3" statutory sick leave days, then allows the Minister to vary that number by order. Your five days come from a ministerial order rather than from the text of the Act, which is why the figure can change, or stay where it is, without new legislation. Plenty of pages still describe a rise to seven and then ten days as imminent, so if you read one claiming ten days, check its date against the current position, which Citizens Information keeps on its sick leave and sick pay page.
If your employer runs its own sick pay scheme that is more favourable than the statutory one, your sick leave is dealt with under that scheme instead. You do not get both.
What your employer can ask, and what stays private
The law is narrow about what a certificate has to state: that you are unable to work. It does not require a diagnosis, so a certificate is valid without naming what is wrong with you. You are not obliged to talk a manager through your symptoms in order to hand in a valid certificate.
Your employer also cannot penalise you for using your sick leave rights. Dismissal, unfair treatment or an unfavourable change to your conditions because you took statutory sick leave is prohibited, and the Workplace Relations Commission can hear a complaint about it.
After five days, you need a different certificate
This is the part almost nobody explains properly, and getting it wrong costs people money.
Once your statutory sick leave runs out, the payment you may be able to claim is Illness Benefit, from the Department of Social Protection. If you are off for more than five days and have not used any statutory days that year, Illness Benefit starts on day six. If you have already used your five days earlier in the year, it starts on day four, after the normal three waiting days. The Department sets this out with worked examples on its Illness Benefit and Statutory Sick Leave page.
Illness Benefit needs its own certificate, and it is not the note you gave your employer. It is a specific document called a Certificate of incapacity for work, and it comes from your GP. You do not pay for the certificate itself, because the Department pays the doctor an agreed fee, though you may still pay for the consultation. Some GPs can complete it online, and you then apply at MyWelfare.ie with a verified MyGovID account. Apply within six weeks of becoming ill, or you may lose part of your payment.
The weekly personal rate in 2026 depends on your average weekly earnings in the relevant tax year, which for a 2026 claim is 2024:
- €300 or more: €254.00
- €220 to €299.99: €198.90
- €150 to €219.99: €163.70
- Under €150: €114.00
There are also PRSI contribution conditions to meet, and an increase is available for an adult dependant.
Being straight about our own limits: the certificate CareCall issues is one for your employer, your college or your travel. It is not a Certificate of incapacity for work, so if your absence is heading past five days and you need Illness Benefit, that document has to come from your GP. We would rather tell you now than have you find out at week two.
Being sick during annual leave or a public holiday
A small rule that is worth real money, and that rarely comes up.
If you fall ill during annual leave and get a medical certificate for those days, they are not counted as annual leave days. You keep the leave, and your employer cannot insist you use annual leave for days you were off sick and certified.
Annual leave keeps building up while you are out sick with a certificate, and if you cannot take it, you can carry it over for up to 15 months after the end of the year you earned it.
If a public holiday falls while you are on sick leave, you do not lose it. You can get sick pay or Illness Benefit for that day, or your employer can treat you as not being on sick leave and pay you as normal without counting it against your sick days.Getting a sick note from CareCall
If you are well enough to talk to a doctor but not well enough to sit in a waiting room, this is the route the service was built for.
A medical certificate from CareCall starts from €24.99, and unlike our consultations there is no evening or weekend uplift on that price. You request it online and say briefly what it is for, a registered doctor reviews the request and talks it through with you in a short phone or video call, and when it is clinically appropriate the certificate is issued and emailed to you securely, usually the same day.
We are available seven days a week, including evenings and weekends, in 15-minute slots, so a Saturday illness does not have to wait until Monday for its paperwork. Our guide to how CareCall's consultations work walks through the booking steps, and if your problem started outside surgery hours, our guide to out-of-hours GP care covers the other options open to you.
CareCall is a platform that connects patients with independent, fully registered doctors. The clinical decision is theirs, not ours.
When an online sick note is not the right route
Telemedicine has limits, and we would rather name them than let you find them.
An online certificate is the wrong route if your condition needs a physical examination to assess properly, and it is the wrong route for the Illness Benefit certificate above. It is not available at all for employer, driving or insurance medical reports, which CareCall does not provide in any form. Our consultation policy sets out what the service does and does not cover.
No booking carries a guarantee either. A certificate is issued only when the doctor decides it is clinically appropriate. That is not a hedge. It is what makes a doctor-issued certificate worth handing to an employer, because a note anyone could simply buy would be worth very little to the person receiving it.
If your employer will not pay your sick leave
Start by raising it directly and informally. Payroll errors are more common than refusals, and most resolve in a conversation.
If that does not work, you can complain formally to the Workplace Relations Commission using its online complaint form. You have six months from the dispute, extendable by a further six months if there is reasonable cause for the delay.
One honest caveat before assuming a refusal is unlawful. An employer in severe financial difficulty can apply to the Labour Court to be exempted from paying statutory sick leave, for between three and twelve months. It is uncommon, but it exists.
Frequently asked questions
Does my employer have to accept an online sick note?
The Act asks for a certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner stating you are unable to work, and says nothing about how you were assessed. Employers can set their own policy on top of that, so check yours.
Can my employer ask what is wrong with me?
The law requires your certificate to state only that you are unable to work, so a valid certificate need not name your diagnosis. Whether you choose to tell your employer more is up to you.
Do I need a sick note for one day off work?
For statutory sick pay, yes: the entitlement starts on your first day off and there are no waiting days. Some employers only ask after a few days, which is their policy rather than the scheme.
How many paid sick days am I entitled to in 2026?
Five, at 70% of normal daily pay up to €110 a day, after 13 continuous weeks with that employer.
What if I am off sick for longer than five days?
You may qualify for Illness Benefit, starting day six if you have not used any statutory days that year. It needs a Certificate of incapacity for work from your GP, not your employer's sick note.
What if my employer will not pay?
Raise it with them first, then complain to the Workplace Relations Commission within six months.
If you need a certificate today and you are well enough for a short phone or video call, book a certificate consultation and a registered doctor will review your request.
This article is general information about how sick leave and medical certificates work in Ireland. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for a consultation with a doctor. For advice on your own employment situation, contact the Workplace Relations Commission or Citizens Information. Written by the CareCall team.
