The Government has published the Draft Sick Leave Bill here which will commence pre-legislative
scrutiny before the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and
Employment tomorrow, 10 November. When the Government announced its
intention to introduce a statutory sick pay scheme, it indicated
that it would be phased in over a four-year period, starting with
three days in 2022, five days in 2023, seven days in 2024, and
ultimately increasing to 10 days in 2025.
The draft Bill provides for the following:
Employee's entitlement to statutory sick
leave
The Bill introduces an entitlement to statutory sick leave for an
employee who would ordinarily work but is incapable of doing so due
to illness or injury. Initially, an employee will be entitled to up
to three statutory sick leave days per annum but the Bill provides
that this number can be increased by Ministerial order.
