Irish workers will be entitled to mandatory sick pay for the first time under new laws.
The cabinet's approved a bill giving employees the right to take 3 sick days by the end of the year. That will rise to 5 next year, 7 the following year and 10 by 2026.
It will be paid at a rate of 70 per cent of a worker's wage to a maximum of €110 a day.
The Government estimates around half of workers are currently entitled to sick pay, something Tánaiste Leo Varadkar says is an inequality highlighted by the Covid pandemic.
That number falls even further when you take the private sector alone.
The Tanaiste says the change is being made for a number of reasons;
"We believe that no employee should feel that they have to come to work when they're sick for fear of having no income. It's also been done on public health grounds because who are sick might pass on a virus or get an injury or make a serious mistake."
He says it's also the standard in other European countries, including the UK.
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