Ireland's Statutory Sick Leave in 2026: Why It's Still 5 Days, Not 10

Search for Irish statutory sick leave rules in 2026 and you'll find a genuinely confusing picture: some guidance still references a planned rise to seven or ten days, while the actual, current legal position is that statutory sick leave in Ireland remains at five days per calendar year. This isn't a case of outdated guidance simply lagging behind a recent change — the government made an active decision to pause the planned increase, and that decision itself is not always clearly reflected in generalist HR content. For employers running payroll and managing absence policies, getting this right matters, since applying a phased-increase timeline that was never actually implemented risks both overpaying and misinforming staff about their entitlements.

This guide sets out the current rules precisely, explains why the scheme didn't increase as originally planned, and covers what employers need to apply correctly.

The original phased plan — and why it stalled

When Ireland's statutory sick leave scheme was introduced, it was designed to be phased in gradually: three days in 2023, five days in 2024, then a planned rise to seven days in 2025 and ten days in 2026. The three-and five-day stages went ahead as scheduled. The move to seven days in 2025 did not. The government confirmed in April 2025 that the entitlement would remain at five days per calendar year rather than progressing to the next phase, citing cumulative regulatory cost pressure on employers — particularly in sectors like retail and hospitality, where absence rates and staffing costs are already tightly managed.

That decision has held through 2026: there has been no further move to increase the entitlement, and employers should treat five days as the current, stable figure rather than a temporary plateau on the way to ten.

The current rules in full

• Entitlement: Five paid statutory sick leave days per calendar year.
• Pay rate: 70% of the employee's normal daily pay, subject to a cap of €110 per day — whichever figure is lower applies.
• Service requirement: The employee must have accrued 13 weeks of continuous service with their employer before the entitlement applies.
• Medical certification: A medical certificate is required from the first day of illness in order to claim statutory sick leave — there is no self-certification period built into the statutory scheme itself.
• Carry-over: Unused statutory sick leave days do not carry forward into the following calendar year.
• After the five days are used: Once an employee has exhausted their five statutory sick leave days, they may be eligible to claim Illness Benefit directly from the Department of Social Protection, subject to that scheme's own PRSI contribution conditions.

Employers should note that this statutory floor is separate from — and does not replace — any more generous contractual or company sick pay scheme an employer chooses to offer. Where a company scheme already provides more than five days' paid sick leave, or pays at a higher rate than 70%/€110-capped, the statutory scheme is simply superseded by the more favourable contractual terms for as long as those terms remain in place.

Where the confusion tends to come from

A good deal of the ongoing confusion traces back to how the scheme was originally announced: because the phased rise to ten days by 2026 was the headline commitment at launch, a lot of generalist and older content online continues to reference it as the current position, without registering the April 2025 pause. Employers relying on older guidance, out-of-date payroll software documentation, or generic international HR platforms not specifically tailored to Irish law are the most likely to inadvertently apply the wrong figure. When reviewing any external sick leave guidance for Ireland, checking that it explicitly reflects the five-day, post-pause position — rather than the original phased plan — is a useful sense check.

This sits alongside several other areas of Irish employment compliance that shifted meaningfully in 2025 and 2026, including the My Future Fund auto-enrolment pension scheme and the Contractual Retirement Ages Act — employers managing Irish payroll should treat 2025-2026 as a period where several separate schemes changed shape at once, rather than assuming any single piece of older guidance remains fully current.

Practical steps for employers

Payroll teams should confirm that their systems are configured to apply the five-day entitlement at 70% of normal daily pay capped at €110, rather than any higher figure inherited from older documentation. HR teams should also check that staff handbooks and absence policies reflect the current, confirmed position rather than the original phased-increase plan, since employees who have seen general commentary about a rise to seven or ten days may reasonably — but incorrectly — expect a higher entitlement than currently applies.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ireland's statutory sick leave increasing to seven or ten days?

Not currently. The government confirmed in April 2025 that the entitlement will remain at five days per calendar year, pausing the originally planned phased increase to seven days in 2025 and ten days in 2026.

What is the statutory sick pay rate in Ireland?

70% of the employee's normal daily pay, capped at €110 per day, whichever is lower.

Do employees need a medical certificate to claim statutory sick leave?

Yes — a medical certificate is required from the first day of illness to claim statutory sick leave under the scheme.

Getting the current, five-day position right — rather than applying the original phased-increase plan that was paused in 2025 — avoids both payroll errors and awkward conversations with staff about entitlements that were never actually implemented. Learnsignal's CPD courses cover Irish employment and payroll compliance alongside the wider set of UK and Irish employment law changes through 2026.