Sick leave management trips up Irish employers more often than expected, from poor certification tracking to botched long-term absence dismissals. Here are the most common sick leave mistakes that lead to WRC complaints and how to avoid them Read more
Managing sick leave should be straightforward: an employee calls in, provides a cert, and eventually returns to work. In practice, Irish employers get this wrong more often than they expect. The result is WRC complaints, compensation awards, and ongoing disruption to the business. And with statutory sick leave entitlements now firmly established under the Sick Leave Act 2022, the margin for error has narrowed considerably.
Below are the most common sick leave mistakes our team at Purpletree HR sees among Irish employers, along with what each one can cost you.
Employers in Ireland are legally required to provide statutory sick leave under the Sick Leave Act 2022. In 2026, employees are entitled to up to 5 days of paid sick leave per year at 70% of normal wages, subject to a daily cap of €110. Mismanaging certifications, return-to-work processes, or long-term absences frequently leads to WRC claims for unfair dismissal, penalisation, or breach of statutory entitlements.
Many SMEs still operate on a handshake basis when it comes to sick leave. An employee texts a manager, the manager says “no problem,” and nobody documents a thing. When the absences mount, the employer suddenly wants to enforce rules that were never communicated.
The WRC expects employers to have a clear, written sick leave policy that every employee has received. If you end up in an adjudication and cannot produce that policy, the employer’s credibility is damaged before the hearing even gets going. A situation we see frequently at Purpletree is employers who have a policy buried in a handbook no one has read. That is not the same as having no policy, but it comes dangerously close if you cannot prove the employee was made aware of it.
Your sick leave policy should cover notification requirements, certification thresholds, and what happens during extended absences. Getting that policy drafted, issued, and acknowledged is one of the first things our HR Essentials service delivers for new clients.
Under the Sick Leave Act 2022, employees must provide a medical certificate for any day of statutory sick leave. That sounds simple. It is not.
Employers frequently accept incomplete certs, fail to follow up on missing certs, or let weeks pass before realising certification has lapsed. Then, when they try to withhold sick pay or escalate the matter, the employee argues the employer waived the requirement through inaction. The WRC has shown little patience for employers who enforce certification requirements selectively or inconsistently.
There is also the question of uncertified sick leave. There is no statutory entitlement to uncertified sick days in Ireland. Some employers offer a small number of uncertified days as a company benefit, which is fine. The mistake is offering them informally without documenting the terms, creating an implied contractual entitlement that becomes difficult to withdraw later.
The employee who takes every second Friday off sick. The one who always seems to be ill the day after a bank holiday. Employers notice these patterns but rarely act on them, because they are unsure what they are allowed to do.
Doing nothing is itself a mistake. Persistent short-term absence affects team morale, productivity, and costs. Addressing it does not require accusation or confrontation; it requires a structured absence management process that includes trigger points, welfare meetings, and documented conversations.
The complexity here is real. You must balance your right to manage attendance with the employee’s right to take legitimate sick leave. If the absences are related to a disability, you may have obligations under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 to provide reasonable accommodations before taking any action. When we guide clients through this process at Purpletree, the difference between a well-managed welfare meeting and a poorly handled one often determines whether the situation resolves or escalates.
Long-term sick leave is where employers make their most expensive mistakes. An employee has been out for months. The business needs to fill the role. The employer assumes that after a certain period, they can simply terminate the employment.
There is no automatic right to dismiss someone on long-term sick leave in Ireland. The WRC and Labour Court have been clear: dismissal in these circumstances must follow a careful process that includes obtaining up-to-date medical evidence (with the employee’s consent), considering whether the employee can return in any capacity, and giving the employee an opportunity to respond before any decision is made.
Skip any of those steps and you are exposed to an unfair dismissal claim. The Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015 do not contain a specific provision allowing dismissal due to illness. Each case turns on its own facts, and adjudicators look at whether the employer acted reasonably, not just whether the dismissal was understandable.
In our experience advising employers across Ireland, the timing of medical referrals alone trips up most SMEs. Too early and you seem aggressive. Too late and you have no evidence to support your decision-making. Getting this sequence right requires HR expertise, not just good intentions.
The employee comes back after a few weeks off, sits down at their desk, and everyone carries on. That is how most Irish SMEs handle a return from sick leave. It is also a missed opportunity and a compliance risk.
A return-to-work meeting, even a brief one, serves multiple purposes. It gives the employer a chance to confirm the employee is fit for their full duties, to discuss any adjustments needed, and to put the conversation on record. Where the absence was lengthy or related to mental health, the employer may also need a fitness-to-work certificate from the employee’s GP or an occupational health assessment.
Employers who skip this step often find themselves in difficulty later. If the employee relapses, or if new performance issues emerge, the absence of any documented return-to-work conversation weakens the employer’s position. The WRC wants to see that the employer engaged meaningfully with the employee’s return, not that they simply assumed everything was fine.
Employers often swing to one of two extremes: either they bombard the employee with calls and emails about work, or they go completely silent for months. Both create problems.
Excessive contact can form the basis of a complaint, particularly if the employee is on stress-related or mental health leave. On the other hand, complete silence means you lose the ability to manage the absence at all. You need structured welfare check-ins at reasonable intervals, focused on the employee’s wellbeing and expected return, not on project deadlines.
Purpletree already has a detailed article on contacting employees during leave, but the short version is: have a protocol, apply it consistently, and document every interaction. Our employment advice team helps clients design these protocols so that welfare contact stays supportive and compliant.
This is one of the most persistent sources of confusion. Statutory sick leave is paid by the employer (up to 5 days in 2026, at 70% of normal pay, capped at €110 per day). Illness Benefit is a separate social welfare payment from the Department of Social Protection, payable to employees who meet the PRSI contribution requirements and whose illness extends beyond their statutory sick leave.
Some employers believe that once the employee is receiving Illness Benefit, the employer has no further obligations. That is incorrect. The employment relationship continues during sick leave, regardless of who is paying. The employee’s rights under their contract and under legislation remain intact. If you are considering dismissal or replacement while the employee is on Illness Benefit, the same procedural requirements apply.
Under the Sick Leave Act 2022, employers are required to keep records of statutory sick leave taken by employees. These records must be retained for four years. Failure to maintain them is an offence, and in any WRC complaint the burden of proof can shift to the employer where records are absent.
Beyond the legal requirement, poor record-keeping makes it impossible to manage absence effectively. You cannot identify patterns, calculate costs, or demonstrate procedural fairness if you do not have the data. This is where HR software that tracks absences, stores certs, and flags trigger points makes a significant difference. Our team configures these systems so that nothing falls through the cracks.
Some employers, particularly in healthcare and the public-adjacent sector, offer occupational sick pay schemes that are more generous than the statutory minimum. A common assumption is that because the company scheme already pays more, statutory sick leave does not apply. That is not quite right.
The statutory scheme sets a floor. An employer’s own scheme can exceed it, and where it does, the employer meets its statutory obligations through the enhanced scheme. The danger arises when terms of the occupational scheme are more restrictive in some ways (for example, requiring longer service before eligibility, or excluding certain categories of worker). In those gaps, the statutory entitlement still applies.
Reconciling company sick pay schemes with statutory obligations is exactly the type of multi-layered compliance question our strategic consulting team addresses during HR audits. Getting it wrong exposes the employer to claims from employees who fell through the gap between the two schemes.
In 2026, employers must provide up to 5 days of statutory sick leave per calendar year. The employee must have completed 13 weeks of continuous service and must provide a medical certificate. Payment is at 70% of normal wages, capped at €110 per day.
There is no automatic right to dismiss someone because they are on long-term sick leave. Any dismissal must follow a fair process: obtaining current medical evidence, considering alternatives (including a phased return or adjusted duties), and giving the employee an opportunity to be heard before a decision is made. The process is assessed under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977-2015.
Yes. The Sick Leave Act 2022 requires employers to maintain records of all statutory sick leave for a minimum of four years. Failure to do so is an offence and can weaken your position in any WRC adjudication.
Statutory sick leave is paid by the employer for up to 5 days per year. Illness Benefit is a social welfare payment from the Department of Social Protection for employees who meet the PRSI contribution requirements and whose illness extends beyond their statutory entitlement. The two are separate, and employer obligations continue regardless of whether the employee is receiving Illness Benefit.
Each of these mistakes has a direct cost. WRC awards in unfair dismissal cases arising from sick leave can reach up to two years’ remuneration. Breach of the Sick Leave Act carries its own penalties. And the indirect costs, including recruitment to replace a dismissed employee, disruption to the team, and management time spent on disputes, add up fast.
Sick leave management sits at the intersection of employment law, workplace policy, HR process, and human sensitivity. It demands more than good intentions. It demands a structured approach, consistent documentation, and the confidence to manage difficult conversations properly.
That is where Purpletree comes in. Our employment advice service supports employers through every stage of sick leave management, from drafting policies and setting up absence tracking to guiding you through return-to-work processes and long-term absence cases. If you are dealing with a sick leave situation right now, or want to make sure your policies and processes are airtight before one arises, get in touch with our team.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Employment law is complex and fact-specific. For advice on your specific situation, contact the Purpletree HR team directly.
Our team of HR specialists advises Irish employers on exactly these issues every day. Get in touch for a confidential conversation.
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