Statutory Sick Pay in Ireland 2026: Your Five Days Explained
Ireland has had a statutory right to paid sick leave since the Sick Leave Act 2022. It is narrower than most people assume, and the phased expansion everybody read about in 2023 did not happen. Here is the position as it actually stands in 2026.
What you are entitled to in 2026
Statutory sick pay gives you up to five days of paid sick leave in a calendar year, paid by your employer at 70% of your normal daily wage, capped at €110 a day. The five days do not have to be consecutive. Once you have used them in a given year, your statutory entitlement for that year is spent.
To qualify you need at least 13 weeks of continuous service with that employer, and you must be certified as unfit for work by a doctor. Both conditions matter: 13 weeks in, cert in hand.
Why it is still five days and not seven or ten
The Sick Leave Act 2022 set out a phased increase — three days in 2023, five in 2024, then seven and eventually ten. In April 2025 the Government paused the rollout, citing research on the effect on sectors such as retail and hospitality. The result is that the entitlement stayed at five days for 2025 and remains five for 2026. The higher figures apply only if the Government legislates to resume the increase, so treat any article quoting seven or ten days as out of date.
The certificate requirement
You need a medical certificate for every day you claim statutory sick pay, starting with the first. There is no self-certified day inside the statutory scheme. The certificate is the ordinary employer certificate confirming you are unfit for work and for how long — not the Department of Social Protection form used for Illness Benefit. You can get one from your GP or from an online consultation; CareCall issues medical certificates after a video or phone appointment, seven days a week.
A practical point that costs people money: get the certificate dated from the first day you are out. Consulting on day three and being certified from day three can leave the first two days uncovered.
How the 70% and the €110 cap interact
You are paid 70% of your normal daily wage, but never more than €110 in a day. The cap bites above roughly €157 of normal daily pay — anyone earning above that hits €110 and stops there. Below it, you get 70% of your actual daily rate. Your employer calculates it from your normal pay, so variable hours and shift patterns are averaged in the usual way.
What happens after the five days
Statutory sick pay stops. What follows depends on your circumstances. If your employer runs an occupational sick-pay scheme, that takes over on its own terms — many are considerably more generous than the statutory floor, and your contract is the place to look. If not, and you have the right PRSI record, you move to Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection. That is a separate claim with its own form, its own waiting days and its own rates, set out in the Illness Benefit guide.
The transition is not automatic. Nobody moves you from one to the other — you have to make the Illness Benefit claim yourself, and it needs a Certificate of Incapacity for Work from a GP.
Your rights while you are out
Sick leave taken under the Act counts as service for most employment purposes, and you continue to accrue annual leave while on certified sick leave. You cannot be penalised for taking statutory sick leave, and a complaint about non-payment or penalisation goes to the Workplace Relations Commission. If your employer already gives you a sick-pay scheme at least as favourable as the statutory one, they can apply theirs instead — they are not obliged to give you both.
If you are self-employed
Statutory sick pay is an employment right, so it does not apply. Illness Benefit is also unavailable to the self-employed. Cover for time off ill is a matter for private income-protection insurance, and it is worth looking at before you need it rather than after.
Quick summary
Five days a year in 2026. 70% of normal daily pay, capped at €110 a day. Thirteen weeks of service required. A medical certificate is required from day one. After five days it is your employer's own scheme or Illness Benefit, and both need action from you. If you need the certificate today, you can book a consultation and have it emailed after the appointment.
This article is general information about healthcare in Ireland, not medical advice, and it does not replace a consultation with a doctor who knows your history. Guidance and rates change — check gov.ie, citizensinformation.ie or the HSE for the current position. If you are seriously unwell, contact your GP, the out-of-hours service or 112/999.